Tipsy
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Realizing she's been selected for the S-Class Exam, Cana resorts to desperate measures to wash her sorrows away. Booze. Lots and lots of booze. A chance drink with a stranger has unforseen consequences and leaves her feeling more than just a little tipsy. NarutoxCana! Fluff. Angst. Lemons and language. AU. NarutoxFairy Tail crossver, next in my series of oneshots!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yo! Thought I'd pump another little NarutoxFairy Tail oneshot out in the midst of my updating frenzy. Hope you enjoy it! And so, without further adue, I pressent to you...**

**...NARUTOXCANA!**

_"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."_

_~Cana Alberona (slightly innebriated at the time of the quote)_

**Tipsy**

Cana Alberona was drunk.

Tipsy really.

Now, Cana she found this quite strange, because she never, ever got drunk. She could drink for days and days on end, and not once would she feel the aftereffects of the booze, nor would she wake up with even the slightest of hangovers. Tonight was different. Tonight, Cana, was deliberately getting herself sloshed. Tonight, after learning only hours earlier she would once more be taking part in an S-Class exam. The very same exam she'd failed four times before, while Mirajane, Erza and Laxus had all passed with flying colors.

But that wasn't the reason for her inebriated state. The real reason she'd chosen the drink was because of her father. Gildarts Clive. It was because of him that she'd come to Fairy Tail after her mother died. Because of him-his fault!-that she became a mage, that she subjected herself to hellish training and ridiculous jobs on a daily basis. Because she hadn't told him yet. Hadn't told him she was his daughter. Cana had tried to tell him many times, and each time she failed. Finally, she'd sworn to tell him once she made S-Class. Only...she never did. She'd failed again and again and AGAIN, and now well, she was almost certain she'd fail. Too many of these failures had accumulated in he rmind to allow her to think otherwise. Hence the drinking herself to death.

In her mind, Cana reasoned if she was too drunk to attend to attend the exam they wouldn't bother to care if she didn't show up. If she didn't show up then she couldn't fail now, could she? It seemed like such a sound argument at the time, when she'd been sober. Now, only a few barrels in, the idea was beginning to seem more and more unlikely. Ten empty barrels lay discarded beneath her stool at her feet and she felt only slightly tipsy. To make matters the bar was beginning to run low. Within hours-minutes if she kept up the grueling pace-there would be no more alchohol.

"Is this seat taken?"

Cana looked up blearily, the room blurring as someone claimed the seat beside her. Blue eyes met brown and brown was the first to drift away as the mage managed a half-hearted wave. She tried to say something to be eloquent, but her mouth-and her considerably high blood-alchohol level-betrayed her once more.

"No...'snot...

"Thanks." the stool creaked as someone settled into it.

"D'n mention it." She caught a glance at him-for he was emphatically male-out of the corner of her eye. Not half-bad looking, this guy. She half-expected him to cringe back from the copious amounts of whiskey on her breath, however, to cringe away from the amount of booze she'd drank. Instead, he smiled and leaned acoss the counter towards her.

"I'd offer you a drink but it looks like you've already cleared the place out." He shot a sympathetic look at the bartender and slid some cash across the counter, affording Cana the rare opportunity to size this newcomer up without him noticing. The first thing she noticed was his smile, and from there, her interest only piqued.

He was handsome enough, she supposed. Blond hair, blue eyes, whiskered cheeks, a spiral shaped scar tracng the length of his jaw, spinning round and round and round...she got dizzy just by looking at it. And then he threw her for another loop; because there was the matter of his attire. The young man wore extravagant colors, white slacks complete with an orange sleeveless vest, giving her ample view of his chiseled chest and the tattoo in full view of his shoulder. Her eyes lingered on the former a tad longer than they should have before they finally noticed the mark.

"Whuzzat?" She asked, pointing at his shoulder.

"Hmm?" The blond blinked before he followed her gaze, indicating the tattoo adjourning his left shoulder and most of his collarbone. "You mean this?" The tattoo, presented the profile of a great tiger, baring its massive fangs in defiance. She'd never seen the mark before and even in her drunk stupor, she couldn't help but be curious about it.

"This is the mark of Sabertooth." the blond grinned.

"Saber...Sabertooth?" She slurred. "Neva...hurd a' it?"

"Its my guild, if you must know." A grimace of self castigation. "We're not very big yet, but one of these days...we'll become the biggest guild in all of Fiore! A touch of pride entered his words, but he might as well have been speaking a different language, because Cana was no longer listening.

"Ha!" The card mage snorted, covering her mouth with one hand in an attempt to stifle a drunken giggle. "Big! You said you weren't big!"

The blonde's eye twitched.

"Oi, oi...

"Oi! Cana mimicked him, unable to help herself.

"You're bloody hammered aren't you?"

"'M not!" Cana hiccuped. "You...You shaddap!" _Shit._ She really was, wasn't she? Perhaps she'd drunk too much after all. Had the room always been swaying this way? The mage extended his arm with a grin, and it was with very little hesitation that she found herself clasping it and shaking his armin turn.

"Uzumaki." The mage introduced himself with a grin. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Cana Alberona." She grinned back, marvelling at the feel of his muscles beneath her fingertips. _Damn but the guy knew how to work out._ She let her fingers linger a touch longer than they should when he released her arm deicately trailing them across his bicep

If the mage recognized her name, if he noticed her subtle flirtation, then he did precious litle to show, either. His eyes however, drifted toward her exposed stomach, where the symbol of her guild was proudly displayed in all its glory. She was just about to comment on that, on his wandering gaze when the blond laughed.

"So tell me Cana, what's a pretty young fairy like you doing in a place like this?"

"Getting sloshed 's what." Her tongue slipped. "I have a test tomorrow...so I'm drinking till I fall over!"

Naruto laughed and the gesture was warm as lava glow. Or perhaps that was the alcohol in her belly.

"I'll drink to that." he said.

"You should!" Cana shouted with a laugh of her own, wobbling only slightly as she raised what was left of her barrel in answerment. "C'mon! Drink with me!"

"I don't think I'd be able to keep up with you...

"You gotta at least try!"

Naruto chuckled.

"My magic doesn't react well when I'm drunk."

"What kinda magic do you use anyway?" She asked.

Blue eyes twinkled mischeviously in the dimly lit bar.

"Now that would be telling."

"Can't you at least give me a hint?"

"I could."

When he refused to elaborate, Cana pouted.

"Well?"

Naruto laughed, exposing sharpened fangs.

"I didn't say I would."

Cana blinked. Didn't Natsu have teeth like that? This guy...he could possibly be another...nah. In her inebriation she gave the matter no thought. None at all. She'd come here to get hammered, not to ask his life story and all that prissy bullshit. The thought still nagged at her, though. Just what sort of magic did he wield...

They chatted amicably with one another for a few minutes before the blond ordered a drink of his own-whiskey on the rocks with a shot of vodka. Cana couldn't help but be impressed at his choice; his was a drink of an experienced drinker. Not some first time fruity beverage. He slammed it back against his lips and drained it in a single shot, gasping as the alchohol warmed his belly. He ordered another, and another, and slid it across the counter at her while taking the first for himself. She caught it with a deft hand that defied her drunkeness.

The blond shot her an appraising glance as he raised his glass.

"This has a little bit of everything in it." He warned her. "Think you can handle all of that?"

"Just watch me!" She knocked it back in a single motion, drinking the burning fluid. A few moments later, the room began to swim. Add to that the already significant effects of her own intoxication, and not even her legendary resistance to alchohol could save Cana Alberona from what was to come. She'd simply had too much booze and now, with the potent vodka swirling through her systerm, round and round and round, she'd lost any chance of emerging from the bar in any form of sobriety.

"You okay?" A blurry Naruto asked.

"Heeeeeeeey," She laughed, hiccuping. "This stuff's great!" Before he could protest she snatched his shot glass away from him and downed it as well. Now Naruto looked really blurry. So did the rest of the room. Those people were blurry, he was blurry...hehehehe...everything was blurry! And maybe it was just the booze talking, but he was starting...to look pretty damn handsome, just sitting there. She barely even registered those silly words of his as she scooted her stool toward him.

"This stuff 's good." She slurred. "Reeeallly good...

"I'm afraid you won't think the same come morning, Alber—"

He was cut off as her mouth struck his, her lips connecting with his ferociously.

Perhaps it was the alcohol. Perhaps it was her ego regaining its former stature. Perhaps it was his one hand on the back of her neck, pulling her mouth closer to his, while the other started undoing her belt. Whatever the reason, Cana Alberona forgot about tomorrow's exam completely as Naruto grabbed hold of her and she him underneath his white slacks.

His gasp of surprise certainly did not dissuade her either...

* * *

Cana awoke the next morning to satin sheets and one _hell_ of a hangover. The room swam before her vision, tossed about by tides of nausea. Her tongue felt thick and woolen which was no surprise, gven the amount of alchohol she'd consumed. Her head felt like...well, like Master Makarov's titan form had stomped on it rolled over. Only then did she see the clock. _Well past afternoon._ The boat was long since gone. The mission to get herself shit-faced drunk had been a success after all. So why did she feel a sudden surge of dread? It wasn't like she was letting anyone down-except herself-by not taking the exam. There was always an next year for her. Sighing she sat up, the sheets falling from her form. Only then did she realize she was naked. _Shit. Fuck. Shit. _She hated hangovers._ Hated them!_

She clutched at herself in disbelief, shaking her head to clear the spots from her eyes. Warm sunlight shone through the curtains, peeking around the blue drapes, exposing a series of hickies on left breast. Despite that and the fact that this certainly wasn't her first time, the cadre mage flushed. Fuck. Oh, fuckity fuck. She'd gone and slept with Naruto, hadn't she? She'd gone and had a one night stand even after swearing off any sort of physical relationship a year after losing her virginity to Gray. She'd woke the next morning to find he stripping friend gone, without so much as a word of goodbye. Things had been awkward ever since, and now, she had gone and done the same thing, only to wake up alone. Again. Stupid. Stupid girl! She berated herelf as she struggled to rise, searching for her garments amongst the pristine sheets of the bed. sworn off having a again, after the

"Oh, you're awake."

Cana froze as Naruto rounded the corner, clad in an orange bathrobe. She might've found it funny, were it not for the realization that she'd slept with a complete and total stranger. A damned sexy stranger. The longer she gave the matter thought, the less she came to care about _that,_ however. Becuse he was still here. He hadn't left her. Hell, he'd given her the excuse she needed to skimp out on the exam! Tears-tears!-stung at her eyes and she dashed them with the back of a hand without a second thought.

"Good morning." She said lamely, sheepishly, feeling silly for almost crying in front of him. Kami, she felt so awkward.

Naruto displayed no such awkwardness.

"Wow." He whistled, suddenly, softly.

"W-What?" Cana clutched at the sheets, drew them closer to herself. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Narut shook his head, only for a dazzling grin to blossom across his face. "I'd just forgotten how _damned beautiful_ you were without your clothes on, that's all."

Behind Cana's pale skin, the slow flushing of her face looked almost like a growing forest fire, and she seemed literally unable to catch her breath. She tugged up the sheets just to hide her eyes, just so she wouldn't have to to look at those smoldering blue orbs. Oh wow. He was smooth, this guy. Fighting her _and_ hitting on her at the same time? She'd never met a man capable of both before. Of holding his own against her while at the same time respecting her as a woman. She burned beneath his gaze, color rising in her cheeks, red as a rose.

_Damnitall he's making me warm!_

But was he really worth missing the exam?

_Hell yes he is!_

A tiny voice in Cana's head reminded her of her promise to Lucy but she shrieked at it and it retreated into a corner, cowering. Despair filled her again, dark clouds blurring and warping her vision until the room seemed at the bottom of a stormy red sea. She shoved it aside and focused upon the man standing before her, drinking in every aspect of him and her surroundings She could hear the shower running in the hall, could see that towel wrapped around his exposed neck; the mark of Sabretooth standing out stark and proud upon his collarbone, baring its fangs at Cana. Glaring at her. Accusing her of treason.

_Is it so wrong to want to enjoy myself?_

"Cana?"

She blinked, pushing her sorrow away.

"Don't you have that shitty ass exam of yours to take?" The blond said so simply she'd have _sworn_ he was raised on foul language. Cana stole another glance at the clock, considered it, decided otherwise. She really did not have it in her to get out bed, hung over as she was. Instead, she shook her head.

"Not anymore."

"Well...shit." the blond shrugged. "Sorry if I made you miss it."

"Don't be."

But Naruto persisted.

"I still feel like shit for making you miss something that important." His eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him. "At least let me make you breakfast in bed." She caught a glimpse of his magic just then-as he flicked an eager glance toward the kitchen of his apartment and clapped his hands. The lights snapped on, one by one, various appliances flaring to life and cabinets wresting themselves open. Some sort of telikentic magic, then? She shook her head, dismissing it as nonsense. He probably had a lacrima in the house somewhere. That's not the point! Her mind hissed, reminding her of his gracious gesture. _The point is he offered to make you the best freakin' breakfast in bed you'd ever had!_

_Aw,_ she thought to herself, smiling. _He's sweet. __Might as well enjoy him..._

Cana gave the blond a coy smile and beckoned him back to the bed. Back to her, as her hands made swift work of the sheets, lowering them _just_ enough to expose the smooth skin of her left shoulder and breast and a gorgeous body beneath. She could be awfully tempting when she wanted to.

"Why don't you come over here and make it up to me _personally,_ handsome?" she purred.

Naruto blinked, eyes narrowing in amusement.

"Well now, I wouldn't be a gentlmen if I refused now, would I?" He stepped toward her but instead of discarding the robe, he extended his hand to her. Not knowing what to expect, what else to do, Cana accepted his hand and allowed herself to be led from the bed. The sound of running water grew loud in her ears, drowning out all else. By the time she realized what he intended, he'd already slipped the robe from his shoulders a second too soon, revealing precisely his intent.

The shower was still runnng.

"Ladies first." He gestured grandly, helping her into the shower stall as though she were stepping into a carriage. This time, Cana _did_ laugh, releasing all of her pent up stress and anxiety as he stepped into the shower behind her, his lips findng the sweet spot of her neck. Her knees turned to jelly, as he drew the curtain closed behind them. It was then and there as Naruto took her by the hand and led her into bliss, as he made love to her for the second time in less than twenty-four hours that, Cana Alberona made up her mind. Screw the exam. What did one day matter, anyway? Besides, as of right now, right here, right now...

She f***ing loved hangovers.

**A/N: Aaaaaaaaaand there you go! My onesho for NarutoxCana that I never got around to writing! IT IS NOW WRITTEN! Sorry. Been spazzy playing Fallout and Dead Space and getting the absolute CRAP scared out of me. As a final note, this takes place before the seven year timeskip, when Sabretooth was a small-time guild, hence the reason Cana initially reacted with confusion. Anywho off to work now. AGAIN. Hopefully I'll be able to read your reviews and respond to them in a timely fashion once I get back tonight, so...**

**Would you kindly review? Let me know if I should continue? With Cana missing the boat, and by definition the exam, she's got seven years to grow up and explore her relationship with Naruto. He might be part of a small guild now, but we all know what Sabertooth is like, so if and I mean IF this continues, theirs going to be some drama on both sides...and much hilarity when the gang does come back to possibly find Cana married and...possibly with child...XD **

**R&R!=D**


	2. Seven Years of Happiness and Sorrow Gone

**A/N: Gah! Alright, ALRIGHT! I'll put out another chapter! I had no idea ya'll loved this as much as you did! I now present to you once more...**

**...NARUTOXCANA!**

_"Hello, my deceased fellows!"_

_~Uzumaki Naruto (unfortunately quite sober at the time of the quote)_

**Seven Years of Happiness and Sorrow**

Seven years to the day, and he still looked upon that night with bittersweet feelings. That night had been wonderful. Indescripable. Seven years to the day, and he'd never forgotten her smile, not a once. Seven years to the day, and he longed to see her again. For reasons other than sex, of course. Seven years in which he hadn't been able to spend every waking moment with her; with the love of his life. Such were his thoughts as he stood upon the hillock, overlooking Magnolia Town. His last job had kept him away for much longer than he'd anticipated, lasting nearly three months. Now, that it was finally over, he'd taken a circuitous route back here despite knowing others would ask questions. Back to his family

He'd forsaken his classic orange white attire for the theatrical; favoring instead the colors of navy and crimson, a scarlet and azure. The red cloak and cape billowing out against his shoulders

"You're nervous aren't you, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto sent the speaker a heated glance as they moved to stand beside him.

She was a slender, well-endowed young woman with short, light-colored hair and fringes framing her face. She wore a black rose ornament on the left side of her head. As always, she wore that cloak of hers, clasped together by a star-shaped clip, bearing feathery protrusions all over her chest, shoulders, blouse and shorts. The cloak flared out grandly at her feet, where it was divided into flowing sections secured by ribbons. She completed the ensembe with a black pair of socks stopping at her mid-thighs. By all rights she was attractive. Had they met in a different life, he'd have bedded her in a heartbeat. As it was now, he merely glanced at her in commiseration.

"Oi oi, how many times have I told you to stop calling me that, Yukino?"

The woman_-for she was emphatically female-_bowed at her master.

"My sincerest apologies, Naruto-sama."

The sorceror opened his mouth to protest, decided against it. She'd been calling him that ever since she'd joined Sabertooth. And why shouldn't she? He was one of the founding _member_ of Sabertooth, save for Master Jiemma, he had been here the longest. It was only natural she address him with the precious "sama" suffix, even moreso since he'd been responsible for her training. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. Well, he did like it, sort of. That wasn't the point! Mentally berating himself for the slip, his gaze drifted to the town once more.

"What makes you say say I'm nervous?" he asked aloud, fiddling with the gold band wrapped around his ring finger for the upteetn time.

"You've been fingering that ring of yours for the last hour." she observed, brown eyes appraising him questioningly. "You only do that when you're nervous."

The blond sighed; partner or no, he wasn't about to give the girl his life story just because she'd asked.

"Do you miss them?" she asked, softly.

_Them._

Cana.

His family.

"A little."

"Do you want to see them?" Her gaze drifted down the hillock, toward the town gates.

Okay, now she was pushing it.

**"Yukino." **Naruto growled, eyes flaring slitted, pinnioning her with a gaze.** "Drop it."**

If looks could kill...

_"G-Gomenosai, senpai!"_

Huffing, the blond returned his attention to the matter at hand. Inevitably however, thoughts of his guild trickled into his mind. Thoughts of Yukino, as well.

She was his junior, in more ways that one, having joined the guild only after many years of service. She was like a little sister to him. She had heart. Not a thing like the other newcomers. Oh, he got along with Rogue well enough but he couldn't quite help but feel some measure of disdain for the Sting Eucliffe and the four new mages. These youngsters had no heart whatsoever. Not a one of them. Not Sting, not Orga, not Rufus an certainly not Minerva. If the master's daughter ever learned of his role in the in the support Fairy Tail, if she knew that her senpai was secretly responsible for its continued upkeep he was good as dead.

Master Jiemma wouldn't just execute him for this, old friend though he might be. He'd kill him on the spot. They'd founded Sabertooth together, the two of them. Naruto had been one of the first mages to join the guild but after the Tenrou Island incident, he'd watched something twisted grow in the old man. If he had his way Fairy Tail would be run out a beaten-down old bar. Naruto's secret funds kept that from happening. Fairy Tail still had its new guild building_-though it certainly wasn't new anymore-_and he still had Cana. It was the best of both worlds. Only it wasn't.

Because Fairy Tail wasn't the top guild in Fiorre anymore. Sabertooth was. Naruto's eerie prediction seven years ago had bourne fruit and in the worst sort of way. Tenrou Island had been destroyed by the black dragon Acnologia and with it some of the most powerful mages of Fairy Tail. If Cana had taken the boat that day with Lucy and the others_-if she hadn't met him-_she would've shared in such a fate. As it was she'd taken charge of Fairy Tail, mercilessly whipping herself, and the remaining mages into something to be proud of.

It was only fitting given that she was the _sixth_ master of Fairy Tail.

Thanks to her, Fairy Tail hadn't quite fallen off the map, but it was still a shell of its former self. Ranked the fourth most prominent guild in all of Fiorre its legendary status was now merely mediocre whereas Sabertooth once a small guild consisting of only a handful of members, now numbered in the tens of thousands. Whereas Fairy Tail...

Thanks to his rare brand of Lost Magic the blond had successfully managed to juggle, two lives at once and without sacrificing his magical prowess in the slightest. It was a strain to maintain however, as he'd done for the last seven years. The strain was unimaginable. He couldn't see his family nearly as much as he wanted. Couldn't kiss the woman he loved. Couldn't hold her in his arms and whisper away all her fears. He'd had to battle some increasingly vivid dreams as of late. But dreams weren't enough, not anymore. So the solution was obvious, yes? Go and see them. Hold them both and tell them how much he loved them. Simple enough, right?

Wrong.

Master Jiemma had strictly forbidden relationships between guilds. "_To make skies roar... to make earth boil... to make the seas silent. That is Sabertooth._" such were his words. _"We've no place for weaklings here, my old friend, or have you forgotten our promise? To court the feelings of someone outside Sabertooth is to risk excommunication from Fiorre's greatest guild. Do you want that? _Naruto most certainly did not want that._ If you truly long for companionship, however, you may have the hand of my daugter, Minerva."_

But Naruto didn't want Minerva, though the latter very much wanted him. Marrying the master's daughter was simply another way of shackling himself to the guild he'd once loved. _He wanted Cana damnit. _Marrying _her_ had been the best thing he'd ever done. Sure they fought sometimes, and yes, more often than not she got drunk off her ass, but they loved each other. _She_ certainly loved him enough to propose. Now that had been a shocker. He'd gone and picked out a ring and everything and here she'd been the one to get down on bended knee and ask for his hand in holy matrimony! He'd said yes, of course.

The fact that Cana gave birth to their_ wonderful _daughter only two years later certainly empathized with his decision.

Her name was Cornelia.

Named thus after Cana's mother, she was little bundle of energy at only five years old and the pride of his life. She was also the reason he was contemplating excommunication. Too young to understand why her daddy kept dissapearing every day, and at the same time old enough to miss him terribly when he was away. Enough to make him want his family around all the time.

He'd tried talking his wife into joining Sabertooth a few years back when things got dicey between him and Jiemma. It hadn't ended well for him. He'd forgotten just how angry Cana could get when he pushed her. They loved one another, but neither was willing to leave their guild, and it had put a bit of a strain on their relationship as of late. Honestly, that woman got more beautiful whenever he saw her. And he hadn't seen Cana in such a long time. He owed Yukino an apology for snapping at her.

"Alright, you got me." Naruto admitted reluctantly. "I am nervous. And yes, I do miss them. Very much."

"You should go see them."

"Yuki, you know I can't do that." Naruto pushed a hand through his hair as he looked down at the preicpiece below. "If master finds out...

"Oh." Her face fell, and her smile shattered like glass. "I'd forgotten about master's rule...

Yukino was one of the few people he trusted with his secret. They were two of the too few decent people in this guild, or so he claimed. Even Rogue, with whom he shared brotherhood, didn't know about Naruto's super deadly secret. He'd been forced to leave shortly after Cornelia's birth, for that had been when Sabertooth, began its expansion. Shortly after Master Jiemma discovered those five new mages, the guild he'd once started too call home had changed, and not for the better. No longer was it a guild of friendship and trust. No longer did the guild of whom he'd been a founding member; cherish important values like family and kindness. Now it was all about power. Bonds made you weak in Sabertooth, and as a result, most mages were largely antisocial with one another.

Many of those mages had sought to topple him from his position as Jiemma's advisor. Many were now nursing black eyes and broken bones alongside their wounded pride.

That was where the truth of his _second_ Lost Magic came in. Instant Transmission, he called it. The ability to teleport to anyone in the world, merely by fixating upon their magical power. Granted you had to know that inside and out but in essence, Naruto could be in two almot simultaneously. at once. He was simultaneously in Sabertooth and Fairy Tail at the same time, using his status as a senior member of Sabertooth to escape unwanted attention whenever others became suspicious. He was also using it to kick some serious ass when the younger members of the guild came clamoring after him, trying to steal his position as one of the Great Ten Wizard Saints. Trying to blackmail him with the threat of

It wouldn't bode well do for any of his compatriots-Sabertooth or otherwise-to learn the truth behind his prescence now, would it? But the spell placed an enormous amount of strain, on his magic. He rarely used any of his larger spells anymore just for the sake of whisking himself away to see his family whenever the urge struck. Which was quite often. Which was right now. The longer he stared down at Magnolia the deeper his desire grew. The deeper it grew, the less chance he had of controlling it, until finally, finally...

"You know what?"

"Naruto-sama?"

"Screw the rules!"

Before Yukino could think to stop him, the founding member of Sabertooth pressed two fingers to his forehead. Even as she lunged forward to grab him, to stop him, to prevent him from risking his own life and possibly even excommunication, he was gone. A soft whistle of motion was her only answerment, and then Magnolia Town, practically lit up with the amount of magical power he'd just used. She could already feel his prescence halfway across town, located in the Fairy Tail building

She sank to her knees in disbelief.

"Naruto-sama...I hope you know what you're doing."

* * *

"Mommy?"

Cana Alberona Uzumaki, master of Fairy Tail, and wife to one of the most powerful wizard's in all of Fiorre, glanced down from the eternal hell that was paperwork, as as tiny hand tugged at her sleeve. Brown eyes shone with warmth as she saw a messy mop of dity blond hair peeking up at her, sharing her father's eyes of pure sapphire. Cornelia Uzumaki stared back at her mother solem blue eyes peeking around dirty blond tresses, another trait she shared with her parents. She waited patiently beneath her mother's patient stare, ruffling her little blue dress with tiny hands. How many times had those hands reached for her, when she should've been reaching for her father instead?

Sorror swelled in the young mother's eyes at the thought. Even the sunlight, pouring through the open window, was not enough to cleanse that misery. She felt so alone here, sequestered within her office. Unable to take on jobs because of her daugher, forced to rely on others for support. Forced to attend those boorish meetings-

"Mooooommmmy." Cornelia whined, tugging her mother's sleeve insistently. Cana sighed. For all her solemnity, her daughter was young and lacking in patience.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"When's daddy coming home?" she asked. "I miss him."

Cana's response was to pull the child into her lap and hug her into her breast.

"Soon." She whispered. "Very soon."

"How soon?"

"Sooner than you think." Cana shushed, cradling Cornelia's head against her chest.

Contrary to most women, pregnancy had done wonders for her. In the last year alone she'd gained another cup size, adding to her already trim figure, toned from years of taking on missions to prove herself worthy of the title of sixth master. To prove herself worthy, not just as a master, but as a mother. Mother to one of the most powerful children in the world. The child of Sabertooth's foremost Dragon Slayer and Fairy Tail's Sixth Master; a child of incomparable potential, and their only daughter.

She'd grown up in a virtually empty guild. Hopefully, that would soon change. Soon, once the ship they'd sent out to Tenrou Island returned from its maiden voyage. Hopefully Ichiya-san and the others were right. They just had to be alive. They just had to be. Lucy...the others_...father._ The thought sent an unbidden pang of agony racing through her chest. She'd missed him. Wanted to tell him, all these years. If he was truly alive, he had to know. He deserved to know that he had a daughter.

"Mommy?"

A wrry smile tugged at her lips.

He deserved to know he had a grandaughter, too.

"What is it, honey?" she asked the little girl in her lap. "Is something wrong?"

Cornelia's smile was positively beatific.

_"Daddy's back."_

Cana opened her mouth to say otherwise, to assauge her daughter's fears-

-and promptly snapped it shut as the sound of footfalls entered the room.

Brown eyes flew wide open and whipped across the room. Her mouth worked wordlessly as a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light, form still shimmering from the after-effects of his teleportation technique. Her fingers flew to her face, stifling her gasp, her sob of surprise. Cornelia wasn't nearly as reserved.

"DADDY!" She squealed, tackling his leg, the only part of him she could reach. Cana felt herself rise from her chair, her body slowly stepping around the desk. She watched Naruto pick Cornelia up, but regretfully, she'd ceased to notice their daughter. The moment she'd felt his aura, his magical signature, her world had ended. Months, years of sorrow fell away from her, replaced by a joy so fierce it burned through her body, leaving a gaping hole where her heart had been.

Brown eyes met blue and held them there. Cana what this must mean, for him to be here, with them. Knew the chaos his prescence would cause, the hell that would rain down on their heads. And, she didn't care. _She didn't fucking care. _Not even a tiddily bit as her lips found and captured his, rocking the blonde's head back with a jarring stumble. Her fingers found his and her mouth closed around his again and again and again, still aware of Cornelia's prescence in their arms, but simply uncaring for her cries of "ew" and "cooties" and whatnot.

Drinking deep of him, she pulled away, pressed her head into his neck. Cornelia giggled in her ear, the sound sending fresh butterlifes fluttering thrugh her stomach.

"Welcome home," she whispered, softly, tearfully.

_"Welcome home."_

**A/N: Lo and behold there you have it! Many more chapters are to come, and next time, we'll see everyone's reactions to Cana's child! He's a little preview of the shits thats about to go down, now that Naruto's gone and let the cat out of the bag. Cookie to you who realized what Naruto's element was before I revealed it! The two scenes below are mere a few of the ways things could play out once Jiemma realizes his right hand man's been sleeping with the master of the enemy:**

_You've betrayed us, senpai."_

Naruto sighed, pushing a hand through his hair.

"You're making a mistake, Sting." His eyes drifted to Rogue, and he found nothing but sorrow in the younger man's gaze. "You too, Rogue. You don't want to do this." He stepped backward as the Twin Dragons stepped forward, herding him backward and into a corner. Blue eyes drifted lazily across the populated square, narrowing in annoyance.

"You'd take out all these people just to kill me?" His gaze snapped back to Sting. "You're a bigger fool than I thought!"

"The only fool I see here is you."

"You're making a mistake...

"Am I?" The younger slayer accused. "From where I stand, you're the one making a mistake!"

"You've been consorting with the enemy this entire time!" Rogue seconded. "You think we'll just let that stand?!"

"We looked up to you!"

"We respected you!

A muscle jumped in the blonde's jaw.

"Alright youngsters let me refresh your memory. Let me remind you why the first generation will always be stronger than the third!" The air itself seemed to darken around him. "Let me show you why the sun is always eternal, when compared to the light and the shaodw!"

He drew in a great breath.

"Tairyu no...

**...HOKO!"**

* * *

"Sleep with me."

"HELL NO!"

Minerva smiled cruelly.

"Or I'll tell master about your wife."

Dread struck him in the stomach like a frozen fist.

**R&R!=D**


	3. Drive of the Dragon

**A/N: Alright, TYPO. Cana is the fourth master, not the sixth. Sorry about that. Now, I've been itching to write this chapter for the longest time, and now that we know the sheer destruction that an Third Age Dragon Slayer can wreak on someone, I'm pleased to say that I've seen more than enough to know what to write. That's right. Time for the conflict to begin! Things get heavy in this chapter! Brace yourselves, friends! I own nothing...except Cornelia! Now...**

**...let us continue where we last left of, shall we?**

_"Nobody can beat my daddy! Nobody!"_

_~Cornelia Uzumaki._

**Drive of the Dragon**

"Welcome home."

Incredulous, the fourth master of Fairy Tail could only utter these words, could only press her head into his neck. She felt him nod, felt his fingers stroke the tangled curtain of her hair_-gods she looked a mess this early in the morning-_uncaring for the disgustingly pink bathrobe she wore. It was early, damnit! She hadn't been expecting him! She'd planned to shut herself in all day and curl up with a barrel of alchohol while Cornelia was on her playdate with Asuka. Fat chance of that now. She could feal her daughter's tears-tears of joy-as she clung to her father, her precious papa only reluctantly surrendering his child to the floor to return his attention to Cana, so that he might console his apparently distraught wife.

"Cana?" he asked, suddenly hesitant at the sight of her tears. "Are you alright?"

_No, I'm not!_ She seethed inwardly. _You stupid idiot! I missed you!_

But she daren't speak this words. Instead she verbalized her grief:

"You're home." She sobbed, unable to stop the tears when they came, scrambling for words at his approach. "I mean, you're early!" Only moments ago, she'd been resigned to another three month of agonizing anxiety, forced to wait until the Grand Magic Games for a chance to see him again. It would've been another year of moments of passion, stolen when no one was looking, when they had the chance to be together. She'd forced herself to be patient, forced her raging spirt to sit by and twiddle its thumbs as she watched his guild rise to first and her own rot in fourth place. It was only the substantial wages earned by taking S-Class job that kept Fairy Tail from outright sinking to dead last. But he was here! Right here! Right now! Of course she wasn't okay! She was overjoyed!

"I-ah, I wasn't expecting you-

"Surprise." He grinned, pulling her into an embrace.

"Naruto, I'm a mess." She hurried to explain at the sight of his smile, as he placed a hand, beneath her chin. "You could've at least given me a warning before you-**!"** Too late. He lifted her gaze to meet his and she was lost in him again. Lost in those bright, baby blue eyes, that wide, dimpled grin and those lips, oooh those lips...

"I'm home."

As if to cement his words, he leaned forward with intent, placing a soft kiss upon her lips. _Ecstasy._ If Cana Alberona Uzumaki could only choose one word, _one word_ to describe the sudden outpouring of emotion she felt when their lips touched, it would be thus. Time had done nothing to dull her feelings for him. Separation brought them only ever closer when they came together. Pregnancy...well, that had only made her even worse of an alchoholic in the long run, _espiecially _after all those months of hellish sobriety. Now...

_...kami have mercy._

Now that he was back, now that he was here, now that his lips were touching hers, Cana couldn't help herself. All the restraint she'd been exercising over the last month all the rage and frustration she'd kept bottled up inside herself, for the last five years, all of it came pouring into that kiss. Her tongue danced against his with fervor, her lips clashing violently against his as they broke for air, as though even an _instant_ without was too painful for her to bear. Because he was back. He'd returned, when she needed him the most.

She pressed herself against him with ardor, ripping his jacket away as though it were naught but tissue paper. He made a noise of surprise into her mouth and she responded in kind, her fingers fumbling at the clasp of his belt even as her body pressed him against the wall. She cursed herself for wearing underwear as the pink robe slipped from her shoulders, exposing a body honed by seven years of arduous effort, a form that would leave even the mightiest mage of Mermaid Heel green with envy. One that was still featured on the cover Sorceror Magazine Weekly, mind you!

She was shivering by the time his fingers unhooked the clasp of her bra, _whimpering_ with want and need even as she dragged him back to the bed. Goddess, how long had it been? Too long. Her mind wasn't concerned by time and distance, not anymore. Only contact, her fingers frisking their way across his bare back as she ripped his vest off and tossed it toward the growing heap of clothes in the corner of the room. She wanted that damn belt off! She sat up even as he suckled her breast, leaving her fingers weak and nerveless as they strove agains the claso. So enraptured was she, that Cana almost forgot about the third member of her family. A soft cough behind them was brutally quick to remind her before they abandoned the rest of their attire.

"Mommy, why are you and Daddy getting naked?"

_Ooops!_

Cana's face burned with shame as she rolled off the bed, a golden glow eclipsing her skin. God, she was horny! Muttering herself she ex-quipped her old attire from before the Tenrou Island incident, pleased to find that the garmet was tight around the _bust_ and not the waist. Being the Master of Fairy Tail had it's benefits, after all. Naruto had already secured his clothing by the time she thought to steal another glance at him, and from that glance, she inexplicably found her lips crushed against his for a second time. This time it was Cana who pulled away, reminded of their daughter by the tug upon her sleeve.

_Fuck,_ she thought to herself as she scooped Cornelia into her arms. _We really haven't changed at all, have we? Seven years and we're still going at it like rabbits!_

Naruto grunted in surprise as Cornelia clamored out of Cana's arms and into his own, interrupting their heated kiss. He was about to suggest that she go find Alzack and Bisca's daughter, Asuka, when he caught sight of his wife's expression. Cana smiled and the gesture was warm as lava glow, but her eyes blazed high with fierce fire. _Later,_ her gaze promised, to his initial relief. _You're all mine later._ He could feel her hand stroking his back sending silent shivers up his spine, aching for her. He hadn't had sex in nearly three weeks now. A man had his needs damnit! But the need for intimacy found itself quashed as his daughter placed her palm again upon his cheek, her expression grave.

"Daddy," her eyes blazed with excitement. "I learnded a new spell yethterday!" there was only the slightest lisp to her words, thanks to her first loose tooth. "Wanna see?"

"Oh?" Naruto eyes glittered with intrigue even as Cana's shone with concern. She was the daughter of Fairy Tail's Fourth Master after all. She'd tried teaching her daughter the art of the arcana _tried_ to impress upon her the importance of her own magic, but Cornelia was her father's daughter; a sorceror, through and through. Why just the other day she'd nearly brought half the guild down on their heads! Silently praying for something other than an explosion this time, the young mother looked on anxiously as Cornelia scrambed out of their arms and onto the floor.

She drew in a mighty breath_-as mighty as any five year old could manage-_and inhaled, her lungs swelling with magical power. A violet magical seal burst into existence beneath her feet, causing Cana's eyes to bulge. It didn't matter how many time she saw that, it still gave her chills each time. She truly had inherited the depths of their magical powers. And it certainly didn't help that her father, a Wizard Saint, had taught her some of the most destructive spells he'd learned from his 'father', in addition to a handful of his own.

"Honey, maybe you should wait a bit!" Cana pushed forward, fearing for the fate of her guild. "At least until we're outside!"

"Nu-uh!" Cornelia insisted, expelling a might breath. "I'll show daddy right now! Ryu no...

_"Oi!"_

All that emerged was a plume of smoke.

Naruto sweatdropped.

"That was...ah...very nice!"

Cornelia coughed in disbelief, her gaze turning stormy.

"Daddy that wasn't it!" She pushed a foot into the floor, as though determined to exact her vengeance upon wooden panelling. "There was supposed to be a 'splosion! I wanted to show you so bad!"

"Oh, Cornelia." Cana reached for her child. "There's always next time."

Cornelia slapped her mother's hand away, sullen, petulant.

"B-B-But...

Her face scrunched up.

"It's not _faaaaaaaair!"_

Naruto calmly opened his mouth as a stream of _black_ flames erupted from his daughter's lips and streaked toward him. Swallowing it whole, he gave a satisfying grin. Cornelia was by no means a dragon slayer. After all it was impossible for a dragon slayer to truly impart the secrets of his craft to another human, even if she was his daughter. Cornelia certainly didn't lack for effort, however. Offering her papa the perfect practice and at times a hearty meal, whenever he so desired it. And then, in instances such as these, a hearty dose of pride.

Before either could reac,t the dragon slayer swooped down upon Cornelia, enfolding his only daughter in a great big bear hug.

"That was wonderful, Cornelia!" he praised. "Absolutely wonderful!"

Soothed by her papa's words, she allowed herself to be consoled.

"One day I'll be just as strong as you are, daddy!"

Cana and Naruto exchanged a significant glance over his shoulder. Just as strong? Unlikely. _Stronger?_ Quite likely. At the age of five, Cornelia's magical reserves already eclipsed that of most mages in Fairy Tail, and no signs of stopping were evident. And that was without training! Kami help them all if she ever became a full-fledged sorceress. The Magic Council_-paranoid, bunch of bastards, that they were-_would doubtlessly look upon such a child as a threat to their power and use her as an excuse to eradicate Fairy Tail once and for all. As if the threat of her parents scandal wasn't harsh enough.

"Of course you will." Naruto placated, ignoring the harsh look of disbelief Cana hurled at him.

"You're back." she ventured softly. "For good this time?"

Naruto blinked at her in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Incredulity filled his every feature. "Of course I am!"

"But what about-

"Jiemma can go fuck himself if he thinks that'll keep me from you." The Wizard Saint growled, dragging his beloved into another heated kiss. _Kami!_ Cana's knees turned to jelly and the desire to take him then and there was to powerful it nearly overwhelmed her with want and need. If not for their daughter, she might've done so anyway. The thought of her beloved; giving up his guild to stay with them, was almost too much for her to bear, let alone accept. He'd helped found Sabretooth. For him to simply cast it aside for his family...

"So where is everyone?" Naruto asked. "I didn't sense anyone earlier.

Cana reluctantly supplied her husband with the tale; where they'd gone and their plan to investigate Tenrou Island. Supposedly there was nothing out there anymore but this time she had the distinct feeling that they'd find something. And the

"So, you mean to tell me that your friends might still be alive?" His eyes glittered with interest. "That I might be able to meet them?"

"Y-Yes." she cursed herself for the stutter.

"I look forward to it." his voice was mellow and unperturbed.

Her heart fluttered.

"There's also something you should know." She took his hand and guided it lower, towards her stomach."Something else. Something...important." Cornelia followed their hands slowly, unblinking, as the blonde's cheeks began to brighten. The slow flushing of her father's face was like a forest fire, spreading from head to toe, and she couldn't help but wonder why. Was daddy angry? He didn't look angry. Was he ill? No, that couldn't, be it either. Daddy never got sick. So why was he so red? What could possibly be wrong with him?

"Mommy," she asked, "Why is daddy getting red? Does he have a fever?"

"Give daddy a second, sweetie." Cana soothed. "He's coming to terms with it."

"With what?" Cornelia pressed. She was confused! But not for much longer.

The fourth master of fairy tail chirruped happily.

_"With your baby sister."_

Naruto nearly fell over.

"Wait a second. You don't mean...you can't possibly be-

Cana patted her belly with all the knowing of an expectant mother.

"Its been almost two weeks now."

Cornelia raised her voice to almost a shriek.

_"I'm gonna be a big sister?!"_

This time Naruto really _did_ fall over.

"Oi oi oi!" He exclaimed aghast, gawping at her flat stomach. "You mean that one quickie-

Cana nodded.

"You were the one who wanted to see me, remember?"

Naruto chuckled nervously at the memory.

He'd popped into the guild only a month or so earlier, before Jiemma assigned him another job. Their coupling had been brief, ragged and anything but intimate and he hadn't bothered to consider the consequences. He was beginning to regret that decision now. It was already difficult for Cana to explain away her daughter's parentage, but this? The cat was out of the bag. Fear and anxiety threatened to overwhelm himonce more; just as they'd done when he'd knocked her up the first time. It was happening all over again! He was doomed! He wasn't cut out to change diapers!

"Well now, I really ought to be going-

"Oooh no you don't!" She turned a hard stare on him, her fingers closing around his wrist like a vice before he could place two fingers to his head. _"You_ put a bun in this oven once already and this time you're gonna be around to take care of her!" Brown eyes pinnioned him with a gaze, promising him much pain if he resisted. Cornelia was looking at him as well, eyes flush with sorrow at the prospect of her papa's departure. He wilted like a weed beneath their combined gaze, finally recognizing the weight of his wife's words.

"Her?"

Cana flushed, her hand falling away his wrist, caressing her stomach.

"I...think its going to be a girl."

"Another one?" Naruto exclaimed aghast. _Damn._ He'd hoped for a boy if he ever got her pregnant again. Her eyes shone with motherly affection as she returned his gaze, as she took his arm. Once more, she guided his hand toward her stomach, and this time, the dragon slayer found himself unable to resist. Oh, yes. There was the slightest bulge there amidst the muscle.

"I was thinking...we could name her after your mother."

Blue eyes bulged in incomprehension.

"You...You want to name her Kushina?"

Cana nodded.

_Cornelia and Kushina._

It had a nice ring to it.

Hopefully she wouldn't be a redhead...

Naruto turned his head to stare at the blank wall opposite him, the source of all the commotion coming from beyond.

"What in the world?"

* * *

_"Oiiiiiiiiiii!"_

Macao's jerked upright as the sound of splintering wood echoed through the guild. The doors burst inward, pushed backwards by a powerful kick. Everyone rounded on the sound as a familar group of mages stormed in to the guld through the doors, a group of mages hated and loathed by all. They weren't from Fairy Tail; much to Macao's dismay. They were from Twilight Ogre.

"There are a lot fewer people here today." Teebo sneered. "Rather than a guild, what is this? Some kind of friendship club? Say, where's your master?" He stole a furtive glance around the guild. "She here? Good." That disgusting grin, anything, only grew. "I was thinking of another way for her to pay out what you guys owe us. Sounds good, right?"

Macao's heart froze with dread.

"Y-You wouldn't!"

"Our master, well you see...he said we don't have a choice." Teebo offered a nonchalant shrug, clearly enjoying himself. "It's a problem if payments are not made on schedule. If master's said it, it can't be helped...now where is the little bitch?" His hands gropped at the air evilly as his minions chuckled behind him. "Now, why don't you go find her for us, boy?"

"We don't have any money to pay to you guys." Romeo slammed his book shut and stood up from the table. "Why don't you lowlifes go away?"

"Stop it, Romeo!" Macao hissed. "Don't!" Cana had forbidden them from making trouble with the other guilds. If Twilight Ogre actually made good on their threats, then retaliation was acceptable. If not, they'd just give the magic council reason to close down their guild. And even though they were higher ranked than them, too...

"What's with that shitty attitude, you brat?" Teebo snarled.

"To threaten us while our best mages are away...you're all cowards!" Romeo summoned a fireball to the center of his palm. "I don't care if Cana and the other's aren't here right now! I'm not going to stand for it! I'll try my luck and fight back! If things continue like this, Natsu-nii will never be able to rest in peace!" He stepped forward, ready to fight, prepared to duel for his honor-

Teebo blew out a breath and the flame guttered out harmlessly. As Romeo looked on in horror, the man undshouldered his club and began spinning the deadly cudgel toward Romeo. Gulping, the boy tottered all of half a step backward, only partially succeeding in his retreat before Teebo brought his legs out from under him.

"You've got some nerve, you little shit." He grinned, bringing it to bear on the boy. "Even if you _are_ above us, that doesn't change the fact that you borrowed our money, and now we want it back! I'll take it out of your worthless hide first! Then, once we've killed you we'll drag your master off her high horse and haul her through the streets like she deserves! And once we've had our fun with _her,'_ he cackled lecherously. "We'll find an even better use for that shitty little gaki she's got runnning about...

Macao shivered as a sudden surge of killing intent flooded the guild.

"Stop!" he pleaded, his words directed not toward Romeo, but the foolish mage harassing him. "If you continue we won't be held responsible for what happens!"

"Responsible for what?"

_**"For this."**_

Unbeknownst to Twilight Ogre, their rucus had not gone unnoticed. So intent were they on tormenting Fairy Tail in their rare moment of weaknness that they'd also failed to notice a brooding blond had overheard their conversation, their discussion as to just what they intended for Cana. Flames roared hin in his right hand, and fury in his left as he steadily stalked closer. _Closer._ Closer still. By the time Teebo finally noticed the scent of flames against his back, by the time he recognized his own peril, it was already too late. Much too late. The ogre swung around, smashing his burning mace against the face of the intruder.

Naruto closed his jaws, neatly snapping the metal bludgeon in half. He chewed absently, swallowing the molten shadrs as though they were but a mere afternoon snack. They clinked harmlessly around in his mouth for a moment longer before he swallowed them, consuming the burning shards of fire and flame with a contented sigh.

"Thansk for the meal."

"W-W-W-W-What?!" Teebo sputtered furiously. "What're you doing here?!"

Clawed fingers closed around the ogre's visage.

"Thought you could threaten my family, did you? I don't think so...

Naruto growled, the mage in his grasp struggling as he registered that his grip was significantly...hotter than it should be, **"...and if you don't like it, you can go...BURN!" **the grip was distinctly warmer than it ought to have been, alright. Too hot. Much too hot! Scalding him. Burning him!

Naruto brought his hand down.

_Hard._

Teebo flipped backwards, his skin still sizzling as the Sabretooth mage hurled him towards the ceiling. But Naruto wasn't content to merely let him fall to the floor. With a rustling of cloth he vanished , only to reappear in the man's perpipheal vision. All Teebo saw was a rush of flame, a blazing kick careening toward his face. By this time his face was so swollen he couldn't even hope to form the words, left alone scream. He could only feel the wrath of Cana's husband as the heel drop split his lip and splintered his nose; the cartilege breaking beneath the powerful blow as he careened into the floor with an earsplitting crack.

"Punk." Naruto growled, landing harshly on the man's ribs. "Serves you damned right for talking shit!" Eyes ablaze, he turned toward the remaining Ogre and cracked his knuckles. "Which one of you is next? Which one of you_**...wants to suffer?!"**_

"Teebo-san!" One of the Ogre mages squealed in fear, struggling revive his fallen comrade. "Somebody, save us!"

Before his comrades could respond they each met a similar fate. One was frozen solid. Another was thumped by an iron rod. Still another found himself missing all his teeth as a hilt shattered his face. One by one they slumped to the floor, broken battered and beaten. Macao gawped at the sudden destruction. Standing behind the fallen mages, an even larger group of wizards stood. Macao recognized them, but even so, he failed to understand his eyes; because they were telling him lies!_ Lies!_ Not only had the co-founder of Sabretooth come to their rescue but these guys behind them... they couldn't...they couldn't possibly be...

"Che, we're gone for seven years and look what happens!" Natsu Dragneel growled, pushing a hand through his pink hair, the spiky mess refusing to be tamped down despite his best efforts. "Buncha bastards! Think you can mess with Fairy Tail and get away with it, huh?!" He delivered a swift kick to Teebo's gut for good measure, sending the man hurtling across the room. "Get out! I never want to see you and your crew in our guild ever again, you bunch of bastards!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Naruto nodded, risking a glance back at the pinkette. He promptly performed a double-take. "Holy shit! _Natsu?!"_

"Huh?" Natsu whipped around, suddenly aware of the man's overwhelming confusion. "Who the hell are you?" He peered at the man's mark, the mark of Sabretooth, standing proudly upon the man's forearm. "You're not from our guild! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Naruto cocked his head, bemused.

"That's my line!"

_"Teme!"_ The pink-haired youth scowled, butting heads with the blond. "That's my line!"

"Oho?" Naruto grinned dangerously. "And who says I have to listen to you, _gaki?"_

"Bastard!" The fire dragon slayer seethed. "You wanna go?"

Naruto grinned ferociously.

"Bring it!"

"Karyu no...

Naruto grinned as the rush of flame streamed toward him.

"Tairyu no...

"Oi oi oi!" A woman's voice cried. "That's enough! All of you!"

All eyes turned toward the staircase, toward the one who'd spoken. Standing there against the rail, daughter slung against her hip, was Cana Alberona Uzumaki, the fourth master of Fairy Tail. She peered down, at the Tenrou Island gang, brown eyes glinting like chips of hard and frozen amber. She stared each of them down, silently daring anyone to speak up. If she felt any confusion at the sudden and abrupt return of her nakama she did precious little to show it. Instead, she stormed down the staircase, marched right up to Naruto, and handed him their daughter. Taking his hand in her own, she turned to face the horde of unaged mages, friend and family alike, and drew a deep breath.

"Weclome home everryone!" She shouted loudly, struggling to make herself heard over their cheers. "We've missed you!"

Cheers, louder than before, greeted her.

"Now, before you start partying, I, as Fairy Tail's Fourth Master, have an announcement to make!"

The silence was deafening.

"F-Fourth Master?" Gray whispered. "Oi...when did that happen?"

"It's been seven years." Levi hissed back. "Don't act so suprised because you banged her once!"

"Eh?! You knew about that?"

"Everyone knew about that!"

"Are the two of you quite done?" Cana asked, silencing them. "I'm trying to make an announcement over here." Oooh, how she was going to enjoying the look on that icy-bastard's face when she did this! Grinning, she pulled Naruto closer to the stage, closer to her, and when all eyes fell upon the blond, she jammed her lips against his with the repressed passion of nearly a month. It was not without a supreme effort that she tore her lips away again, even as her body whined in need.

"This," she began at their questioning stares, "Is my husband!" Before their cries of surprise could overwhelm her, she pressed on. "We've been married for five years now." Holding up the diamond rock he'd bought her for utter emphasis-it was quite large, she was pleased to admit-she reveled in their attention. "And for those of you who want to know, I might as well tell you, he's a dragon slayer." Natsu, Wendy and even the usuallly stoic Gajeel, guffawed at the news. Others remained focused on her earlier admission. A certain ice-mage's, burned with shame. Cana reveled in it.

"No way!" Lucy guffawed from below the balcony. "You got married, Cana?!"

Brown eyes twitched.

"Will you let me finish?!"

"H-Hai!"

"And this is our daughter." she took Cornelia from Naruto's arms and cradled her softly. "Cornelia Uzumaki, named after my mother. That's right everybody, she's mine!"

Cornelia waved meekly, embarassed by all the attention.

...'llo."

The reaction was instantaneous. Gray fainted outright, briefly fearing that the child was his, and no one could hope to revive him. Erza, already shocked by the revelation of Alzack and Bisca's marriage and child, was as red as her infamous surname, or nearly so. The entire guild was in an uproar and any further attempt to describe it would have been futile. Suffice it to say, the overwhelming reaction sounded a great deal like:

"YOU HAD A KID?!"

Her offspring secured, she turned her attention toward the last item on her to-do list: Gildarts Clive.

"Yo, pops!" She barked. "Get your ass up here! Right now!"

Gildarts meekly pointed at his chest, indicating himself. Doubtlessly Lucy had told him the truth. Cana sighed, relief and sorrow warring with her own, inner anxiety. Lucy's admission actually made things easier, but she had wanted to be the one to tell her father the truth. The moment the S-Class mage cleared the stairwell and reached the stage, Cana thrust Cornelia at him. Gildarts gawped, both at her, and his daughter's sudden act of emotion. Abashed and ashamed, he fumbled at her, unsure of what to do with the child in his arms. Cornelia was of the same accord; she was still fussy and now frightened, uncertain as to what she should do. She'd never seen this man before.

"Surprise, surprise! I'm your daughter," Cana said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, hoping she displayed none of the inner turmoil she felt. "And _she,_ is your grandaughter. Drop her and I'll chop off your balls and sell them, mmkay?" She finished with a sweet smile and a flourish, leaving little doubt that she'd do just that if any harm came to her offspring. Naruto shivered beside his wife; because now it was his turn and he suddenly found himself quite fearful of the woman he'd come to love.

"Well, c'mon! Say something!"

Gildarts was too shocked to even consider the ramifications of his daughter's words. He was far too busy staring down at the five-year-old in his arms, and she up at him. Cornelia risked a glance back at her mother her blue eyes thick with unshed tears. Cana nodded gently in reassurance. Little Cornelia bit her lip reluctantly stifling the whimper that threatened to tear its way past her lips and ruin everything. She was still afraid of his face; still terrified by this great big man holding her so very close, but her mommy's words were slowly clicking together in her mind. Slowly, uncertainty gave way to curiousity and curiousity to inquisitiveness. Could it be true? Did she really have a grandpa? She peered up at him gravely, stifling her tears so that she might speak.

"Grandpa?" she asked softly. "Are you really my grandpa?

Gildart's mouth worked wordlessly. It was like flicking a switch. He couldn't speak. He could barely even breathe.

He tried to speak, he really did, but no sound would emerge. Though dim, he could see remnants of Cornelia, the real Cornelia in his daughter's child; bits and pieces of the only woman he'd ever loved. To think he had a daughter! The knowledge had been shocking enough when Lucy revealed it to him, when she blamed him for causing Cana to miss the exam. And now, seven years later, he'd come back; to find his daughter married and with a husband! With a kid! She was such a little darling! And she was his grandaughter! Meaning...

_I-I'm a grandfather?!_

"Grandpa?" Cornelia asked again, her eyes still moist. "Why are you crying?"

Because Gildarts was crying. He'd been so caught up in his emotions he hadn't been able to realize it. With those words, his body reacted. He hugged Cornelia into his chest, silently revelling in the tiny chirrup of delight she gave. Through his tears he watched Cana smile watched her break down completely. He watched her sob as she moved to embrace _him_ wrapping her daughter and himself in a tentative embrace. In relatively short order the three of them were blubbering like complete idiots. And yet her husband stood aside. He kept himself well back from their little group hug an odd emotion shining in his eyes. Content to remain forgotten while they had their moment. But not for long.

"Oh! Shit!" Cana cussed abruptly, grabbing him by the wrist and hauled him forward. "Naruto, why didn't you say something?!"

"Well, I didn't want intrude-

"Bullshit!" Cana swore, her eyes glistening. "Intrude all you want! We're family! Now, say hello!"

"But I-

"Just do it!"

With that, she thrust him toward Gildarts.

"Dad...meet my husband, Uzumaki Naruto." Pride oozed into her words. "And before you ask, yes, I met him at a bar. Best damned night of my life. Did I mention he's a Wizard Saint?"

Gildarts twitched.

_A...wizard saint?!_

"Nice to ah... meet you, Mr. Clive." Naruto awkwardly extended his hand in greeting, something a boy would do upon meeting a girl's father for the first time. But he _hadn't_ met him first. He'd gone and bedded his child as though it were nothing, married her, and started a family, all within seven short years! The room swam as the realization struck Gildarts upside the head, harsher than any blow.

_This little punk..._

As if reading his mind, Cana's hand strayed to her stomach.

"You'll...also have another grandaughter in a few months." She added ruefully. "So don't plan on going anywhere."

_So he's knocked her up...twice now?! And he belongs to another guild?!_

"Dad?" Cana blinked. "Are you-

But Gildart's wasn't listening. Numbly, he returned Cornelia to Cana's arms. Then he brought the full gaze of an overprotective papa to bear upon Naruto. Something in those eyes didn't quite sit right with the blond, so he opted to take a swift step backward. It saved his life. Not a moment later the ground he'd been standing on erupted into a thousand fragments, dissasembled and laid apart to by Gildart's deadly Crash Magic. Naruto gawped, flames seeping from his skin as he proppelled himself across the room and to safety. Silence descended upon the guild.

"What the hell?!"

"Dad!" Cana gawped. "What are you doing?!"

Her words fell on deaf ears.

"You...

"Eh?"

"You little bastard!" To Cana's dismay, the S-Class mage lunged for Naruto once more, forcing the blond to throw himself back off the banister. "Hold still so I can throttle you myself!" But Naruto did not stay still. Quite the contrary. He hurtled forward, flinging himself over Gildarts and to safety even as the mighty mage eradicated another section of flooring. He landed on Natsu's shoulders, causing the pinkette to wobble unsteadily a moment before another burst of blue flames sent him screaming toward the rafters.

"Oi!" He yelped, alighting upon a beam! "What was that for?! Was it something I said?!"

"You know what you did!" Gildarts roared, leaping up after him. "I'll never forgive you! NEVER!"

Naruto blanched.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, flinging himself out the way as Gildart's hurled a crash spell at him. "What the hell did I do?!" Gildart's response was to simply fling another spell. "Please, tell me!"

"You married my daughter without asking my blessing!" Naruto nearly fell off the beam he was standing on. That's what had him in such an uproarious state? Because he hadn't asked for a blessing? Aaargh! Why did parent's always have to be like that!

"You were stuck on Tenrou Island!" he protested, hurtling a barrage of fireballs back at the mage. Gildart's simply obliterated the spell in his pursuit. Realizing that the rafters were no place to continue such a pitched battle, the blond flung himself to the floor and overturned a table to act as a shield.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?!"

"That's no excuse!"

"Daddy, stop!" Cana pleaded, grabbing him from behind. "Don't kill my husband!"

**"Let him go, Cana!"** A deep, booming voice warned. **"I'll stop him!" **

Cana promptly complied, and not a moment too soon as a shadow fell over the enraged mage. Naruto looked up just in time for his expectations to be defied. Just in time for Gildarts, lips frothing with furious foam, to meed his end. Just in time to watch him be crushed under a giant's foot. Naruto followed the foot and found himself gawping upward a massive man towering toward the high ceiling above itself. Makarov Dreyar slowly raised his boot and scraped the dazed mage off his heel, allowing the flattened wizard to drift to the floor. Even crushed as he was, Gildarts still reached a trembling hand toward his son-in-law.

"I'll...get...you..."

"Are you alright?" Cana asked.

Macao, meanwhile, had fainted. After smelling salts were placed under his nose, he jumped up and cried, "HOW AM I GONNA TAKE CARE OF ROMEO NOW?"

Makarov walked over from his usual spot on the bar, nodded solemnly and patted Macao's back. "If you become unfit to care for Romeo, I'll take him under my wing."

The poor mage blanched. "That doesn't… make me feel much better sir…"

Makarov squashed him under his foot

Naruto sagged in relief.

"Thanks, jiji-

"Oi! Blondie bastard!"

Naruto whipped around, all pretense gone.

"What did you just call me?!"

Natsu's reply came in a geyser of fire.

_"Karyu no hoko!"_

Blue eyes bulged as torrent of orange flame plowed into him, lifting the blond from his feet. Pain crackled across his skin as he found himself hurtled toward the doors, but only for a moment. He opened his mouth and inhaled. With a faint gurgling sound, Natsu's flames found themselves sucked inward. Naruto drank deep, greedily devouring this sudden and unexpected source of energy. Flame scoured through his veins, leaving him feeling refreshed and whole, resurgent with energy as he found his footing once more. Sucking up the very last bit of Natsu's, he gave a hearty belch and patted his stomach.

"Heh, thanks for the meal, Dragneel!"

"Stop stealing my lines you bastard!" Natsu raged. "AND STOP EATING MY FIRE!"

"W-What the hell?"

"How the hell _did_ you eat Salamander's flame?" Gajeel Redfox demanded to know.

"The Sun Dragon will always be stronger than the Fire Dragon." Naruto wagged a finger. "It's only natural that I be able to eat his flames, Gajeel-san."

Gajeel grinned.

"Heh, I like your style!"

"Then how about this?! Naruto's gaze snapped around just in time to see the sparks surrounding Natsu. Lightning, integrating itself within the flames. "Lightning Fire Dragon's-

"Natsu-san!" Protested a young child with blue hair; wearing a dress that was terribly familar, "Please stop fighting!" She would have continued, had not an armored woman with scarlet hair intevened and thrust them apart. Naruto blinked at her, at the Heart Kreuz symbol, emblazoned there upon her breastplate for all eyes to see; straining against a pair of overly large breasts. Holy...! They were almost as big as Cana's! Clamping a hand against his nose, he hurriedly averted his eyes

"That's enough, both of you!" She glared daggers at the pair, and when the pinkette seemed contrite, only _then_ did the fire dim from her brown eyes. "I must apologize for his crude behavior, Naruto-dono. It is my fault entirely for not instructing him better. Please, hit me!"

Naruto flushed at the unexpected sight of her bosom.

"Hit you?"

What kind of crazy guild was this?!

Speaking of crazy...

"Fuck!" He swore aloud, his words going unheard amidst the clamor of the guild. "I almost forgot! Yukino!" He cast an earnest glance for Cana desperate to find his wife and explain that this would be the final departure from the woman he loved. Ultimately, he didn't have to look very far. A tug on his elbow alerted him to his daughter's prescence and even as he reached for her, he found himself face to face with her mother. Blue, met brown and he could see the years in her eyes. All the pain, all the suffering, now about to be ended by his actions.

"Do you have to go?" She whispered. "Do you have to do this? By yourself?"

Naruto nodded, hating himself for every second that he upset her.

"This is the last time." He cast a sorrowed glance for the sabretooth tiger upon his shoulder. "If all goes well, I'll have the Fairy Tail stamp on this shoulder today before sundown." So many years had been invested with that mark, so many memories, so many emotions. And now, he was about to forsake it, everything he had worked to build. And for what? Love? Was it worth it? Was it worth throwing away everything he ever cared for to be with the woman he loved? Yes.

_ Hell yes._

"And if you're not?" her lip trembled.

Naruto shrugged.

"Do what your guild does best." He cast a glance over the chaos and the partying that had resumed in earnest. "Kick some ass."

She kissed him then, crushing her body against him.

"Don't get killed, dumbass." She hissed in his ear. "When this over, I'm getting laid."

The blond laughed.

"I love you too."

Pressing two fingers to his head, he deftly dissappeared before Gildart's could pull himself up off the floor and grab him again.

* * *

Naruto knew it the moment his instant transmission carried him to the streets of his hometown. There was trouble brewing. Just as he knew Minerva awaited a few paces around the corner. Resigning himself to ignore whatever Jiemma's daughter might have to say to him, he pressed onward, resolute in his determination to ignore the obsessed woman. Easier said that done. He resisted the urge to lash out at her as she clung to his arm, seizing it one fell swoop as he passed her by. He allowed her the contact but did not slow, forcing her to move through the throng of people alongside him. She was Jiemma's daughter, after all. He'd owed the old man his everything. At the very least he'd pay the girl his respects and excuse himself.

He wanted to go back to Cana! Damn her crazy father!"

"How have you been?" she inquired, her hand slipping through his as he unwilling found himself guided through the crowd.

"Well." He grunted as she led him through a corridor.

"Then why do you look so sad?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. Strange. Usually she greeted him with some obscure demand or another. For her to inquire as to his condition was...unusual. He hazarded a glance down her. She'd been a pretty little thing as a child. As a woman, she was beautiful especially in her revaling eastern garb. She still went a tad too heavy on the makeup in his opinion. _Cana_ never wore makeup. Then again, until recently they couldn't afford to be seen together. All of that was about to change. He just needed to make it to the guild _before_ the shit hit the fan. Tell the old man he was leaving and let the chips fall where they may. And if it got dicey, well, instant transmission was useful for escaping dicey situations. The thought of Minerva's expression was priceless, and it actually evoked a small smile. He took no pleasure in hurting her_-hell in a different life he'd probably have married HER instead-_but he knew that they simply could not be. Whatever feelings of lust she evoked in him, his love for Cana was far stronger.

He would not give in.

"I'm quite pleased, actually." he answered, giving no insight to his feelings.

"Your job went over well, then?"

Naruto nodded, but left out the details; he didn't want to piss off Minerva just yet. She was as vindictive as they came. If she found out about his plans to leave Sabertooth, she'd doubtlessly strive to complicate things for him and Yukino. If he left he was damn well taking his apprentice with him. She wouldn't be left to suffer the depravity of this guild. She'd be happier in Fairy Tail. The latching of a lock drew his attention. When the blond turned, he suddenly realized that he was no longer standing outside, just as Minerva was no longer holding his arm. A percursory glance at his surroundings confirmed his worst fears. How the hell...did he end up inside her house again!? It must have something to do with her magic.

Whenever he was with her, he invariably ended up inside her apartment. Not to take it the wrong way, but he was growing rather tired of it.

"Over here."

His gaze snapped toward the bed.

Minera lay there before him, fingers tracing a bare thigh. Golden eyes traced longingly across every inch of him, taking his exasperation in stride. Her every gesture, screaming of invitation and seducation, would've had most men rutting her the moment they laid eyes on her. Naruto wasn't most men. His heart had been stolen by long ago, and not by her. Thusly he felt only the _slightest_ stirring of arousal when Minerva let slip a single strap, exposing the creme-colored skin of her waist and shoulder. He ruthlessly suppressed it.

_Nobody has to know,_ a nasty little voice in his head whispered. _Nobody will know..._

_I'll know. _he rebuked himself._ Besides...Cana's are bigger._

Fight perversion with perversion. A perfect tactic!

Smirking he stepped around her, and she mistaking his smile for something else, smiled in turn.

"I was sooo lonely while you were gone." she cooed.

Naruto twitched.

_Ah, this again..._

She grabbed his hand as he tried to brush past her and brought it to her bare breast. Carressing it, eliciting a soft moan from her lips. Naruto shuddered in surprise, his smile shattering like so much glass. He wanted to take her right then and there, and for a moment, he teetered on a knife's edge. The slightest move could send him hurtling over into oblivion. There was no going back beyond this point. With every fiber in his being he willed himself to step away from her and toward the door.

"Minerva...that's enough."

Her lips quirked into a small smile. She did not release his hand.

"You're so cold...but that's what I like about you." she pressed it tighter against her chest.

Naruto growled.

"Stop!" He ripped his hand away from her chest, taking with it_-to his dismay-_most of her dress. "Why do you insist on doing this?! You can have anyone else you want, you know that! Sting! Rogue! Orga! Anyone! Why the bloody hell does it have to be me?!"

"True," She affirmed, uncrossing her legs with a silken purr before standing. "I _can_ have any man I want, whenever I want. But I _want_ you."

Naruto stepped backward, struggling to avert his eyes.

"Why?"

"Are you that stupid?" she scoffed, anger breaking through her facade of perpetual calm. "Are you really that dense?!"

She took his head in her hands, pressed her forehead against his.

"I've loved you ever since I was a little girl." She whispered, giggling at his guffawed look. "Don't look so shocked! You were the first man to ever best my father in combat. Its only natural I have a crush on you after a beating like that, after watching you ruthlessly destroy the strongest man I'd ever known-

"It was a draw-

-not from the way I saw it." She shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, you should be the one lading Sabretooth, not him. You defeated him back then, and you've only grown stronger since, while he's become even weaker than before." Her eyes shone with want and need, promising him all he desired. "Think of it, Naruto-kun! We can rule Sabretooth, together, just the two of us!" Her lips pushed against his on a sudden, and even his soul threatened to burst. Cana. At the memory of his wife, he became frozen beneath Minerva's fingers, dead beneath her kisses. He willed himself to turn cold, and unresponsive, like a corpse.

_No._

Tenderly, he took her hands and pulled them away from his face.

"I'm sorry, but I've already told you, I just don't feel that way." He was lying. His body wanted Minerva. He _ached_ for her. But his heart wanted Cana. It was his iron will that had kept him faithful all these years and he wasn't about to let it give out now, not when was so close to having everything he wanted.

"Please, Naruto." She begged, tugging at him. "We'd be sooo good together...

"Minerva," He shook his head. "I'm flattered, really. But I can't."

"There's someone else, isn't there?" she pressed. "That's why you can't bear to be with me, isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're taking about."

"Then sleep with me." her eyes glistened with tears. "Am I so ugly that you can't stand me?"

"You know damn well that's not it."

"Then are you...gay?"

"HELL NO!"

"That's too bad." she sighed. "It would've made a good excuse."

His fingers closed around the brass knob.

"It really is."

"Oh, but you don't have a choice anymore." She absently pushed a raven strand behind her ear. "You have to sleep with me. You have to be with me. Forever. Or else." When he looked back at her, those amber yellow eyes were hardened, filled with fierce, unrelenting resolve. A niggling sensation of doubt nagged at him as he glared forward calmly.

"Or else what?" He scoffed at her as his hand turned the latch.

"Or they'll all know."

Naruto froze.

_No..._

The handle was like ice beneath his fingers.

"What did you say?"

Minerva smiled cruelly.

"Or I'll tell papa all about your secret little life." her words dropped to a venemous hiss. "Your wife, your child, everything. I'll bring it all crashing down around your ears. If I can't have you, then I'll see your world burn before I let anyone else have the chance." Dread struck him in the stomach like a frozen fist. So they knew. Or at least, she did. Clever bitch. Clever, clever little bitch. But she had another thing coming if she thought a threat like that would bring him to heel. She also had another thing coming besides..._a fucking bitch slap to the face!_

_**"Fuck you and go to hell!"**_

His magic splashed harmlessly against Minerva's shield even as an empty palm pushed through and cracked her across the face; smacking her across the jaw in an unrelenting open palmed slap. The blow sent her body sprawling and released the locks all at once. Naruto bolted for the door, uncaring for her shouts, nor those abrupt flarings of magical power.

"You won't get away with this!" She shouted at his back. "The lacrima's already transmitting! Everyone else already knows!"

Naruto spat on the street, wanting nothing more than to dislodge the taste of her from his mouth. He pressed two fingers to his head, wanting nothing more than to distance himself from this place. Why the hell did the damned old man have to have those seals put up in his inner sanctum! They prevented him from transmitting directly to Jiemma and ending this once and for all. He couldn't even get a fix on his location which was odd given the fact that he hardly ever left town anymore. No matter. He'd find the old man and make this right, then he'd bug the hell out.

Rogue and Sting were waiting for him as he rounded the corner. Naruto froze. That two-timing bitch! She'd planned this all along! She'd set him up! Refusing to play to their game, to be herded into the guild, he turned in the opposite direction, forcing himself to look straight ahead as the twin dragons moved to flank him. Sting on his left, Rogue, on the right. Rounded another bend. Sting was the first to speak, hissing into his ear just as they moved into the crowded commoner district.

_"You've betrayed us, senpai."_

Naruto sighed, pushing a hand through his hair, willing himself to act natural.

"You're making a mistake, Sting." His eyes drifted to Rogue, and he found nothing but sorrow in the younger man's gaze. "You too, Rogue. You don't want to do this." He stepped backward as the Twin Dragons stepped forward, herding him backwards and into a corner. Blue eyes drifted lazily across the populated square, narrowing in annoyance as he realized just how many casualties there would be. Annoyance, warped into disbelief twisting into horror as he registered the resolve in their eyes.

"You'd take out all these people just to kill me?" His gaze snapped back to Sting. "You're a bigger fool than I thought!"

"The only fool I see here is you." The Dragon Slayer nudged him out of the square and away from prying eyes. Naruto resisted the urge to flee. If he tried to use instant transimission now he'd need at least ten seconds of uninterrupted concentration. He didn't trust Sting or Rogue to give him that time.

"You're making a mistake...

"Am I?" The younger slayer accused as the darkness of the alley closed in around them. "From where I stand, you're the one making a mistake!"

"Is it a mistake to fall in love?" The whiskered blond countered.

"It is when you've been consorting with the _enemy_ this entire time!" Sting persisted. "Their master, no less! You think we'll just let that stand?!"

Naruto pushed past them. If he could just reach the mouth of the alley, he'd be able to defend himself. Here, swallowed by darkness, he was vulnerable. But their voices followed him, nipping at his heels, mocking him and all he'd accomplished in the last seven years.

"We looked up to you!"

"We respected you!"

A muscle jumped in the blonde's jaw. He lunged forward and into the daylight, the twin dragons hot on his heels. Magical power flaring, he fired a haphazard blast into the air. Everyone looked up as one, just in time for the dragonslayer to unleash a ghastly gout of fire from behind his lips. It roared high overhead singing hairs and harming hats leaving the none-mages stunned and untouched. Naruto grinned as looks of shock and cold terror overcame their awe. Silently ruing his every act, the blond opened his mouth and roared out:

**"FLEE!"**

Sting and Rogue balked at their senpai's sudden declaration.

**"FLEE YOU FOOLS!"** He cackled, belching another blast of flame, the roar swinging wide as he turned his head to aim it. **"FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES! MWAHAHAHAHA!"** Because that, was his intent. Even as Sting and Rogue moved to silence their fellow slayer, someone screamed. And the stampede began in earnest. Civilians shouted and children wept, only to be scooped up by their parents. Everyone fled from the three slayers, all of the non-mages wanted nothing to do with the oncoming conflict.

"Bastard." Sting hissed, realizing they'd lost the advantage. "We didn't want to fight you!"

"You didn't want to fight me on even footing, you mean." Naruto snapped back. "Coward!"

"You're right, senpai." Rogue admitted, stepping forward. "We didn't want to fight you. We wanted to resolve this peaceably."

Naruto snorted.

"Tell that to _him."_

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we'll go after your friends and family." Sting snarled, unthinking. "We can't have any weaklings in our guild."

Rogue's eyes flickered over to Naruto. To the untrained eye, the _dragon slayer _did not react at all to the information of his family's impending peril. He looked as though he hadn't even heard a thing Sting had said. But Rogue knew Naruto fairly well, and he could see the blue-eyed slayer's jaw clenching through his chiseled, whiskered cheeks.

And when he spoke, it was with a venom that silenced the entire street.

"What happened to Yukino," he asked, "Sting?"

The shadow dragon slayer immediately recognized what Naruto was getting at. Sting stood rigid as he stared in forced silence at the other slayer. Naruto glared forward calmly almost causing Rogue to wince; Sting was in serious trouble and the rest of the city wasn't about to spring to his defense. Naruto didn't care what the answer was, only that it gave him an excuse.

"That's none of your damned business, traitor."

"Meaning that you're holding her captive." the blond accused, eyes blazing. "I swear, if you've harmed a single hair on my apprentice's head-

_"She's safe."_

"Rogue!" Sting exclaimed aghast, gawping at his shame-faced partner. "We're not supposed to tell him that!"

"She's took another job soon after she returned." Rogue continued, intervening before his partner could attempt further deception, before he could drive the blond dragon into a frenzy from which he'd never return. "I'd tell you more, but this is all I know."

He tossed a flyer at Naruto, and the blond deftly snatched it out the air.

"Why give me this?"

"Because I feel Master Jiemma is making a mistake." Rogue elaborated, his expression pained. "But as part of this guild, I am obligated to abide by its rules. Nevertheless, I will not lie to you." His eyes narrowed with a modicum of respect. "You taught me that much yourself." Naruto read the paper over, his eyes welling with emotion. If there was anyone in Sabretooth he cared for other than Yukino it was Rogue. The boy was like his little brother, in a sense. He couldn't bear to fight him. But if it was for his family...

"Rogue, I—" Naruto began when a katana plunged deep into his chest, pinning him against the building he'd been resting against. Blood began to spill out of his parted lips as his eyes bulged in anger and disbelief. Who was it? The culprit was already standing in front of him, his hand gripping the hilt of Rogue's _katana _and forcing it deeper through flesh. Dobengal stared back at him in utter contempt, the ninjaesque mage's expression hidden behind his half-mask. Naruto glared up at him in defiance of his mortal wound, sneering at his former comrade through blood-bleached teeth.

"Dobengal!" Sting seethed. "We had the situation under control!"

"Master's orders." The mage answered.

Sting frowned.

"Jiemma-sama authorized this?"

The shinobi-mage's silence spoke volumes on the matter.

Rogue blanched as he saw the blood on the blade-his blade!-as he saw his friend, his mentor, bleeding out in the street, slain without want or warning. Something in him twisted at the sight. And despite this _despite_ his mortal wound, Naruto began to speak to his supposed assassin.

"So, the old man put a kill order out on me already, eh?" He scoffed. "Shoulda known he wouldn't listen. Shoulda known he'd send you to do his dirty work." His grin grew as he reached up to grasp the blade. "Ya know, what? I never did like you, ya sonuva bitch. I don't know why I even bothered to try." He shook his head, gesturing at the growing puddle of crimson beneath him. "But, killing me like this...kinda ruins the reputation of our guild, doesn't it? We're not allowed to kill. Whaddya gonna do? Cremate me?" He chuckled. "That'd be ironic. The great "Sun-God" reduced to ashes at his own funerlal. But ya see-

"Die, traitor!"

The ninja gave the blade a final wrench and the blond collapsed-

-into smoke.

Just like that, Uzumaki Naruto was gone, leaving nothing behind but a burning log in his place. The ninja gasped, recognizing the illusion spell for what it was. Though he still held Rogue's katana in hand, the element of surprise had been lost to him. Where had he gone? Where was his target? He turned, seeking his assignment as he'd been told-

A sharp strike to the back of the head ended all his thoughts.

Dobengal crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his body limp and nervely from the blow. Naruto stood behind him, untouched and whole, and very, very perturbed. For a moment, Rogue felt relief. Then he'd realized the implications of what Dobengal had just done, what Jiemma had ordered him to do. Guilds were not allowed to murder their own members. Excommunicate, yes, but murder? Absolutely not. There could be only one course of action now. And if they weren't going to cover it up-

"Now I've got no choice." Naruto sighed. "I was content to just walk away from all this. I was going to leave you to your own squabbles, your own petty little feuds." He withdrew a lacrima from the folds of his jacket, a small, potable device designed for communication. "But now the old man's gone off his rocker. I can't let this stand any longer." Clearing his throat he began to speak into the device. "This is Naruto "Sun-God" Uzumaki of the Ten Wizard Saints. I would like to report an attempted murder on behalf of Sabretooh. _My own._ Would you kindly send Lahar and the others over as soon as possible-

The lacrima shattered in his hand.

Naruto blinked back at Sting, slightly perturbed by the boy's actions. He dusted his hand off, rubbed the numbness from his arm.

"That won't do you any good." he sighed. "They'll be here within the hour."

"Are you insane?!" Sting exclaimed. "You helped build this guild! Why would you want to tear it down?!"

"I don't intend to tear it down." Naruto frowned. "I intend to get rid of all the asshats and become the new master, if the council allows it. Barring that, I'll just join Fairy Tail. Kami knows they've treated me better than you lot have." He moved to brush past them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with the old man-

Sting struck out as his face.

Naruto staggered backward, rubbing at his jaw.

"You can't be serious." A scowl wormed its way through his expression. "After all this, you still want to fight? Do you really hate me that much?"

"You," Sting seethed, "This is all your fault! We're going to be ruined because of you!"

"You had it coming." Naruto growled. "This is no longer the guild I founded. Excommunicating those who are weak, exiling those who fail...this guild was never the same the day the five of you joined! Now, stand aside or so help me, I'm going through you!"

"I can't let you!" Sting screamed! "I won't!"

"Rogue, make him listen!"

"C'mon!"

Rogue wrested his hand away. Damnit, he just couldn't bring himself to turn against Sting after all. Not after all they'd been through. Naruto looked at him for a long moment, hurt flickering across his features. Then his gaze hardened, his resolve roaring high, higher than the flames burning off his body.

"Alright youngsters," Naruto growled, "Allow me to refresh your memories. Let me remind you why the first generation came first, and yours came _third!"_ The air itself seemed to darken around him, as he drew breath, the light itself growing dim, turning to dusk as they looked on. "Let me show you why _my_ power is almighty and everlasting! Ominpotent, when compared to yours, the like of light and shadow!" He drew in a great and mighty sigh, eyes flaring an obscene, unholy red.

"Let me show you...why the sun is eternal."

His coat and cape shredded themselves away, flayed to pieces by the sheer output of magical energy. He was drawing energy from the sun, soaking up the warmth afforded him by his native element. Sting swore back at himself. They'd tried to herd him back to the guild for this very reason. Out here in the open with the sun shining down upon him and not so much as a single cloud to obscure it, Naruto was nearly invincible. Even if they managed to defeat him, he had but to breath and he would be restored.

"Sting...

"I know." The White Dragon Slayer braced himself for the hell was to come. Their base forms weren't on par to such an onslaught. Damnit, this was going to hurt! He dredged up the magic within him, forced it, to bend to his will as he had when he'd killed his first dragon. Just a little more...there!"

"White Drive." his body burst into light.

"Shadow Drive." Rogue announced, shadows flaring about his body as well.

"Is that it?" Naruto scoffed at the sudden surge in their magic. "You think you can copy _my_ technique, just like that? Ha!"

Sting and Rogue exchanged a glance. It was the former who dared venture the question.

"What?"

Naruto's grin grew.

"Who do you think it was that invented your precious little drive technique?"

An overpowering sensation of pressure bore down upon them like an invisible hand. They sensed something enormous nearby, silent in the dark, like a giant passing within arms reach. A great, gravid deadly prescence too huge to grant them notice. Sting glanced to Naruto and saw him grin, grin as his magical power spiked, as Rogue's fingertips pressed against his temples. A droplet of blood fell from his brother's nose to join that of Sting's own. He was suddenly grateful for Lector's abscence. This magical pressure, it could only mean one thing...

"Rogue!"

Too late, he realized the horror of what they faced.

"My turn." The blond snarled. _"Sun drive."_

Whatever restraint Naruto had exercised vanished with these words. Any form of limit he'd imposed upon himself was subsuquently eradicated in the resulting surge; forcing the dragon brothers back, as a tidal wave of stygian darkness enveloped their senpai. When he emerged from the blackness, he was a dragon incarnate. Shimmering scales lined the length of either arm, flames licking at the edges of hardened skin. Clawed hands clenched in anticipation, he beckoned them forward, and the air itself seemed to warp with his words.

"Come young ones!" Naruto roared; it as a deep, throaty, ear shattering crack. "I'll show you the difference between us!"

"He shouldn't have been able to do that." Rogue muttered sullenly, petulant as they gazed upon the heat-glazed form. _"We_ should be the only ones able to activate dragonforce at will."

"Tell that to him." Sting spat back. So much for taking down the infamous Naruto "Sun-God" Uzumaki without a fight. As much as he was loathe to admit it, any chance of any easy victory went out the window the very instant they'd threatened his wife and child; the moment they'd forced their senpai to choose between love and pride. Clearly the former had won out. It was _there_ lurking in his eyes. _Anger._ Any mercy Naruto might've shown them was now a thing of the past. He'd be coming at them full force, from the very beginning.

"It's not too late, senpai!" Rogue pleaded. "Kneel before Master Jiemma and beg forgiveness! We can still make this right!"

The first generation slayer hissed out a reply.

_"Forgiveness?"_

All the air grew thick and muggy around them as the temperature spiked; even the atmosphere itself would rather evaporate than face the dragon slayer's wrath.

"It was too late for forgiveness the moment Sabretooth threatened my family! Prepare yourselves!"

Seeing no point in further banter, they lunged, hurtling powerful blows at the dragon slayer's head. They'd smashed countless opponents this way before with such flawless teamwork and they saw no reason why such tactics would fail them now that he had the advantage in numbers. Naruo fought back smartly, less recklessly than one would've expected. He ducked and weaved, evading the worst of Sting's bolt and blows, brushing aside Rogue's deadly strikes, all the while maintaining a careful distance between the two of them. At first. Then he closed the distance. It was slow; a riposte here, a parry there, but it was inexorable. Each move was flawlessly correographed, each step brought him onestep closer to the twin dragons; each footfall forcing the young slayers to change their tactics until even that became a feat in-and-of itself.

But they were holding their own, somehow. Impossibly, they were able to avoid the worst of his attacks, just enough so he couldn't immediately end them. And then he dissappeared. Sting surged forth, half expecting the sun dragon to reappear at his flank and blocked, guarding against an invisible strike from empty air.

The attack came from behind.

His hip exploded with blood as Naruto's claw sliced through his back. Sting gasped and stumbled forward, his eyes looking forward in disbelief as he struggled to keep himself upright. Naruto snarled as he moved to end the battle, only for a well-placed shadow strike from Rogue to force him away. He blurred backwards, arms crossed, eyes narrowe with contempt. Rogue pursued in earnest, buying his comrade precious seconds, to find his footing. To recover. Sting forced himself back to his feet, placed his fingers against his hip, wiping the blood away. _Damn but he was good._

One moment he stood across from him, arms folded and eyes narrowed, blazing with hate. The next, red orbs the color of blood filled the entirery of his vision. Fingers clenched into a claw, passed through empty air as the Sting flung himself backward and to safety. He touched a hand to his cheek, alarmed to find a series of bloody streaks there not unlike the blonde's own whiskers. Naruto made no effort to pursue. Instead he turned his wrath upon the unprotected Sting.

"Tairyu no...

Sinister scales burst into flame, coating the limb in a sea of heat and fire. The sun's wrath rolled up his sleeve, revealing the claws and the sinister scales lining the length of his arm, blackening the limb in eerie hues of stark white and crimson. Sting balked at the sight of them, the flames erupting from the blonde's elbow, acting as a booster for the coming blow. Even he, young as he was, knew what would happen if he connected the dots in such a manner. If that blow collided with his face-

**...ENJU!"**

Without hesitation he launched himself toward his enemy. Tattered cloak spreading out behind him, he swooped at Sting, drawing his fist back to deliver a knockout blow. His clenched knuckles flew at the white dragon slayer, who caught it easily with his bare hand, squeezing until the bones ground together.

"Not bad_...senpai."_ Naruto eyes bulged as white scales scrawled across the young dragon's face, marring the flush of his tan body. "You had us on the ropes for awhile there." Grunting, Naruto attempted a gut punch to the ribs with his other fist but the third generation slayer effortlessly blocked the blow as well. Sting's grin grew as a shadow erupted behind him and vaulted over his shoulders.

"But not anymore."

The dragon slayer of the sun had already flung himself backward, even before Rogue's fist cracked across his jaw. Even then, even with the might of dragonforce burgeoning his already considerable magic prowess, the sheer force of the assault was almost enough to drive him under. The blonde's head snapped back with the blow, his body reeling, struggling, to comprehend what had just happened. He landed in a crouch, eyes aflame with fury and disbelief, opened his mouth to speak-

_"Hakuryū no Yokugeki!_

_"Eiryū no Zangeki_."

A flash of motion to Naruto's right drew his attention. He saw rather than felt what came next as the pair approached and lashed out in a perfectly executed, flawlessly timed, combination attack. Rogue's gloved claw snaked in just beneath his chest, Sting's just above his jaw. Even over the tumult of his own hammering heart he heard the crack that had to be a rib and or his nose breaking. Probably both. Blood leaked forth from his lips, pooled in his lungs, threatening to choke him.

_Shit..._

The pair stayed balanced on either planted foot, cocked their respective limbs again, lashed out once more, this time connecting with his stomach as he turned to look at them. The sun dragon slayer staggered under their combined assault, his body bruising beneath a series of bone-jarring blows. But it did not break. He drew another breath, pushing all of his power outward even as they surged forward to end him.

"Tairyu no...

**...HOKO!"**

White hot flame, azure fire, erupted from his lips, forcing his attackers backward, just for a mere moment.

It was enough.

He drew back, half a pace, nothing more. Scarlet eyes gleamed brightly in the afternoon, narrowing till they were little more than twin pinpricks of crimson. Abruptly, the blond drew himself and inhaled. They suddenly changed again, those eyes, the sickening shade of scarlet melding with the soft blue of the opposite irses, fusing into an eerie, ephermal violet. He stood woodenly not taking enough care. Wiping a thin trickle of blood from his mouth, the reinvigorated blond pinnioned his opponents with a baleful glare.

"I really didn't want to do this." He muttered, softly, reluctant. "It puts too much of a strain on my body." He winced, wobbling on his bad leg. "Aaah...but you're not leaving me much choice, are you?" A bead of sweat sluiced down his cheek, joining the blood trickling from his wounds. "Watch closely now." The blond crossed his arms before him in an X-formation, planted his feet. "And don't blame me if you die."

"What's he talking about?" Sting hissed. Dragonforce was the ultimate level of power. A dragon slayer couldn't take it any higher that. Unless...Fuck! Shock and horror flitted across his visage.

By the looks on their faces, Naruto knew.

"I'm afraid this is where the asskicking starts, my friends."

With that, Naruto threw his head back and screamed. He drank deep of the sun's light, allowing its energy to swell through his soul, to burgeon his reserves to inhumane heights. But Naruto, had never been human to begin with now, had he? Their was a tale about Sabretooth's so-called "Sun-God" passed down through the years by Master Jiemma himself. There was good reason for that name of his. Naruto's power was tied to the sun itself. The higher it hovered in the sky, the greater his power grew. But this was something else, something not tied to his Dragon Slayer abilities.

This was something more.

Tattered and mattered, his formerly spiky hair grew long and jagged, spreading out behind him even as lightning surrounded his body. The earth quivered in fear, the air shook from the simple sight of the energy rising off his back and shoulders. It rose like a shroud around his body and engulfed him, coating the screaming slayer in an eerie, golden aura. Eyebrows vanished _banished_ by the sinister series of scales scrawling across his skin. Erupting out of his back and body they clamored forth from his form like an infestation, churning and burning across his burnished body, leaving singed skin beneath.

"Not...enough!" Naruto grunted, his body bursting into brilliance. "Higher_...**HIGHER!"**_

Azure bled from his body, the flames roaring high with intensity. They couldn't even approach him such was the blaze, couldn't hope to intervene and halt his transformation. And then, it was done. With a final, guttural scream of red-hot agony, sweat pouring down his brow, and out of every pore, the blonde's body burst shining with light as he transcended his mortal coil. It was like watching the rebirth of a phoenix. When the smoke finally deigned to clear, Uzumaki Naruto was gone.

Something else stood in his place.

His body shone with otherwordly radiance, bright as the sun, rippling with heat and energy. Hair the color of pure gold glittered down his back leaving whiskered cheeks and an eyebrowless face exposed. His attire was, miracuously, intact despite the blue and black flames roaring over his shoulders and chest. He shifted, an almost imperceptible movement, and the earth eroded at his feet, cratering inward, in its haste to escape those blazing violet eyes, the unholy wrath held within them. Lightning crackled around his form, the air spitting and sizzling, from the friction his mere prescence induced. Though humanoid in appearance, this creature could no longer be called human. Nor could the magical pressure rolling off his form.

Rogue shivered.

"Sting," He whispered.

"Yeah?"

_ "We were fools."_

The White Dragon managed a numb nod.

This truly was the Sun-God, Sting realized, standing here before them. This was the only man in Sabretooth, who'd ever fought Master Jiema to a draw. And he was about to tear them apart for the crime of threatening his family, in recompense for their temerity. Jiemma honestly expected them to fight something like this? They couldn't even get close to him!

Regret as thick as the muggy atmosphere subsuming them seized his heart as he caught sight of their senpai's true from. Damnit they'd had him! They had him! He'd been at death's door! And now he'd ascended even higher than before! This great god that'd once been a mere mortal turned, bringing wrathful violet eyes to bear upon the young dragon slayers, pinnioning them with a gaze.

**"You should be proud of yourselves." **He remarked, glowing eyes hot as hell, voice black as pitch,** "Only Master Jiemma has pushed me this far in battle before."**

"Wha-

**"It's over, Sting."**

Sting didn't even have time to blink. All he felt was the breaking of bones and the cracking of ribs; his body screaming in agony as he sank down to his knees. Naruto stood over him, sparks arcing off his body, lending his form a sinister aura. Sting felt his jaw drop open, mouthing hanging in a small, round O. The Sun Dragon calmly withdrew his clenched knuckles and, before the White Dragon could ever hope counter, dropped him with a brutal right hook to the face. Cartilege broke beneath his fist, shattering Sting's nose, but by then_-thankfully-_the third generation dragon was already unconcsious.

_"Sorry...Lector..._

His body slumped to the street, toppled by the Sun God. Naruto stepped over his broken body and checked for a pulse. Finding one he nodded, straightened, the flames of his ultimate technique slowly smoldering away from his body, leaving him alone in the streets. Alone with Rogue.

Naruto glared bloody red daggers at the shadow Dragon Slayer. He no longer needed the form of the Sun God to fight, and maintaining it for more than a few minutes placed a tremendous strain upon his body. To hold onto such power, power beyond the realm of mortals, was difficult. To be consumed by it was easy. his life. Every second counted. He stepped forward, the temperature spiking once more. He would end this quickly but he had to be certain that he faced an opponent, and not a friend.

"Are you going to stand in my way as well, Rogue?" he challenged.

The dragon slayer stared him down a moment longer, shook his head. He backed down.

"No." He relented. "I know when I'm beaten, senpai."

Naruto nodded.

"Thanks. I really didn't want to use this form on you."

"What are you going to do?" Rogue asked as he stalked past him, toward the guild building. "When you find Master Jiemma?" The blond didn't bother to look back as he ascended the steps.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Naruto growled and cracked his knuckles.

_"I'm going to kick his fucking ass."_

**A/N: BWAHAHAH! This is rated M for a reason! So much to read and discuss! Poor Cornelia! They nearly scarred her for life! And Cana's pregnant AGAIN?! Kushina sounds like a fine name. Gildarts is a grandfather! And will the mighty Sabretooth fall or will Jiema sweep the murder conspiracy under the rug? And what will the Magic Council have to say about this now that the secret is out, now that Naruto's brought all of their wrath down upon Sabretooth?! Can he possibly survive his battle with Jiemma?! Things are coming to a head! But gah, I can't believe I have to write a Naru x Minerva oneshot after this...that woman is seriously a bitch no matter how I portray her. Unless I somehow figure out a way to brainwash or give her amnesia. Any ideas in that aspect for the one shot? I'll gladly accept them! Anywho, I worked extremely hard on this chapter in the hopes to please all you NarutoxCana fans on nearly every front, and it is now midnight over here, s****o...**

**...REVIEW, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**

**We'll see Naruto's cat next chapter! Who oh who could he/she be?! Be sure to guess and vote!**

**R&R! =D**


	4. Dirge of the Dragon Part I

**A/N: Alright, TYPO. Cana is the fourth master, not the sixth. Sorry about that. Now, I've been itching to write this chapter for the longest time, and now that we know the sheer destruction that an Third Age Dragon Slayer can wreak on someone, I'm pleased to say that I've seen more than enough to know what to write. That's right. Time for the conflict to begin! Things get heavy in this chapter! Brace yourselves, friends! I own nothing...except Cornelia! Now...**

**...let us continue where we last left of, shall we? We shall see Naruto's cat in this chapter! I received MANY pm's begging me for it to be this character, so, there you have it!**

_"So you've come at last, traitor!"_

_~Jiemma._

**Dirge of the Dragon (Part I)**

Cold fury burned the world white and the world trembled. Quivered in fear, as the universe smoldered around it. Wept like a babe, as everything imploded. Shadows erupted from the earth and soared across the sky. Flames roared high. Light and dark, hand in hand, laid waste to anyone and anything that dared oppose them. All this magical power emanated from but a single man; a single pillar of light, roaring high into the heavens as it pierced the was the earth spared this wrath. Shop sank into the earth. Streets found themselves sundered, great ravines stretching across the land for as far as the eye could see. Men fled. Women clutched children to their breast and prayed to their gods for salvation, for help that would never come.

Because Naruto "Sun-God" Uzumaki was on the loose.

He strode through the halls of Sabretooth in brutal fashion, laying waste to those fool enough to oppose him, which were thankfully few. Most had the sense to clear the halls, to avert their eyes from this great god of a man, whose very steps set the floor afire with his wrath. He was done holding back. The full might of his magic pressed down on the walls and the floor, the heat of the sun itself melting glass and setting banners alike ablaze. And still they came at him, mages he'd once called allies, friends even. Each determined to protect Jiemma. Each destined to suffer defeat at the Sun-God's hand. There was no hesitation to be found with in his strikes now, only cold, brutal precision as he laid wase to his enemies. In their brief moments before unconcsiousness it was a brief, brutal reminder of what they faced.

One of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Bones snapped and muscles tore as he shredded his way through his former home. Screams tore through the halls and his ears. As he ascended, to the uppermost levels of the guild, he found the hindrances to be less and less prevalent. He simply didn't care. If they fled, he left them alone. If they fought...well, they didn't last very long. He'd just reached the uppermost hall when he heard the distinct fluttering of winds.

"You're seriously going to go in there?" a voice asked from above.

Naruto harrumphed harshly, but neither did he slacken his pace.

"Now you choose to show up?" he asked the rafters. _"Tsunade?"_

He scarcely even registered the weight before it settled upon his shoulder. Risking a glance up at them, he found himself face to face with an exceed. But not just any exceed. Blond in coloration, though not nearly such as the aura blazing around him, she was strange, even for a member of her race. Cluthing a bottle of sake in one hand an a saucer in another, she seemed immune to the flame exuded, as she should after all the many years they'd spent together. Large white whings dominated most of her back and a small, violet jewel dominated the center of her forehead. Hazel eyes contemplated him cooly, even as she poured sake into the saucer and offered him a drink from the bottle. He accepted it gladly, grimacing as the burning liquid coursed down his throat.

"You're being foolish." she warned him. "

"I'll be fine," he soothed the exceed. "I'm a Wizard Saint, remember?"

"All the more reason to be cautious." she insisted. "Jiemma's probably prepared for you."

Naruto grunted. The discussion was over.

At last he found he could go no further. He stood before a large door. Beyond it lay Jiemma's inner sanctum. Before it stood two mages. Orga Nanagear and Rufus Lohr. He'd half-expected to find Minerva standing there as well, barring his path. But no, it was only they. Orga of the Black Lightning. A wide grin stretched across his chiseled face, splitting his cheeks. Rufus's smile was less jovial but by no means less threatening. Uzumaki blanced at the sight of them, but not out of fear or weakness. He simply didn't want to afford the man an opportunity to copy his magic.

Sensing his distress, the flames flared about his body, the temperature spiking in response. He edged forward as did they, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Orga cracked his neck from side to side, the motion eliciting a sharp frown from his companion. Naruto stifled a snort. These mages were an uneven pair; their teammwork was sorely lacking. Not a thing like Sting and Rogue's tandem attacks. He'd held back agains them for that very reason. They'd make fine mages someday. But these two? They'd be ash before they could blink.

"Master's waiting for you."

Had he still held his eyebrows, the blond would've arched them. As it was, he only scowled.

"Is he now?"

Orga nodded.

Naruto brushed past the muscular mage. His quarrel was not with them. Not yet. Not-

"Lady Yukino awaits you as well."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded his former comrade opponent. A look of irritation crossed his single visible eye as it regarded the smirking sorceror only a few yards behind him. So she was here after all. He should've known Jiemma would have countermeasures in place to subdue him. Lightning crackled across the expanse between them, sparks flaying across the skin of the dragonslayer as his mind worked at a furious pace. He could tarry no longer.

"Tsunade," he began slowly, coldly. "Get off."

"But-

_"Get off."_

The exceed complied, spreading her wings and taking flight even as the blond turned to present the memory mage with the full weight of his wrath. If the mage noticed the sudden humidity in the air then he made little mention of it. Rufus adjusted his hat with a flourish of his wrist, either unaware of, or simply uncaring for the smoldering figure of fury looming over him.

"You have three seconds to tell me what he's done to her." Naruto hissed.

"Traitors must be punished," he began, raising his wand. Naruto slapped the spell aside as though it were a mere baubble. Rufus felt a touch of fear, but repeated the effort, calling upon yet another spell courtesy of his Memory-Make magic. A chilling breeze froze the corridor and found itself subsuquently shattered as the Sun-God stormed through. The touch of fear turned to terror. If the cold could not quell these flames, then...**.!** His gaze swept upward as he summoned a deluge of water, a verirtable typhoon, and dropped it on the blonde's head, drowning him. For a moment, Rufus dared to hope; he'd done it. Achieved the impossible. Quenched a unquenchable flame in the form of man-

"One." Naruto announced as he stepped out of the fog, steam roiling from his shoulders.

_M-Monster!_

"She's been stripped of her mark!" Incredulity trickled into his words as he raised his wand anew and dropped the roof itself on them-the huge chunk of rubble never reached it target. Like everything else, it simply died the moment it reached the blond, smoldered away into embers before it could so much as graze his shoulders. This was absurd! He'd never shown such levels of power before! How were they supposed to stop him if alll their attacks turned to ash the moment they touched him?! If gravity could not crush him, then...darkness would smother him!

Naruto stood there, covered in dust, but otherwise intact.

"Two." he hissed archly.

_Die, Sun-God!_

The entire corridor darkened around Rufus as he drew upon the most forbidden energies known to him in his Memory Make. His most lethal of all spells, and by far the most deadly guaranteed to stifle life itself. Tendrils of all-encompassing darkness coild around him, hissing like serpents. One touch from these would strike the fear of death into anything, be it man or mouse. The Sun-God would die a death of fear and loneliness, and it would be Rufus who dealt the death blow!

"Yamato no Orochi!" He announced, hurling his most potent spell straight at the blond. Naruto increased his stride all of_ half a pace_ aura flaring as thousands of screaming soul and snakes swallwed him whole. Lightning rose, thick, fat sparks crackling around him as he slogged through the deepest darkness itself. He staggered, dropped to a knee. Groaned. Rufus cackled, his victory assured.

"There!" He laughed, his facade slipping in the wake of the Sun-God's imminent defeat. "You should know, Master is righteously punishing her as we sp-

_"Three."_

Rufus's eyes went wide as his right arm was severed from his body, the limb now falling away from him in a flash. The gloved fingers were wriggling slightly as the nerve endings within them struggled to receive signals from his brain once more, dropping the sword the wand they once held as his hand groped on blindly. Rufus lunged forward, his left arm stretched out in an attempt to grab and wield the fallen wand once more.

"Shi-!"

Uzumaki Naruto buzzed into view, his body blocking the mage's weapon, his blue eyes glaring out coldly from beneath his thickened brow. With a hiss, he swung his arm backwards, a haze of blue-black flame rocketing out from the tip of his fingers and incinerating both the sorceror's arm and his wand within the dark energy.

_**"Vermin."**_ he hissed, swinging his arm forward. _**"You think you know fear? Let me show you what true fear is!"**_

Rufus couldn't even scream as he found his body sheathed in the golden flames; because his vocal cords were already gone. The back of Naruto's hand collided with his face, smoldering away part of his jaw. Frantic and fading, he could only utter a choking gurgle as he watched the blond shove his other hand forward, the limb wreathed in golden fire.

_**"Congratulations."** _He said, his voice black as pitch. _**"You've successfully managed to piss me off. Any last words before you die?"**_

Rufus shook his head frantically, trying to say something, anything, anything at all. All that emerged was a choking hiss as the blonde's glowing fingers closed around his throat.

Naruto's grin grew.

"I didn't think so."

Orga Nanagear could only look on in disbelief, frozen in horror, as the Sun-God summarily obliterated his partner. This was madness! How were the supposed to fight the strongest member of their guild when he wasn't holding back?! Yukino was only in the next room over and, instead of powering down as they'd expected him to, the blond had flown into a berserker rage. _Damnit Rufus,_ he hissed as the dragonslayer's eyes cut across him, pinnioning him with a gaze_. I would've liked to sing a song about our victory today...guess that's not gonna happen._

"You're next." Naruto snarled, striding forward, aura spiking to unimagineable levels. "Make peace with your god, Orga!"

Orga of the Black Lightning knew that this would be his ultimate battle. He alone was all that stood between Jiemma and the wrath of the Sun-God. Even their master, mighter as he was, stood little chance, against this all-consuming magic. The final bulwark. The last defense. And he'd be damned if he went down without a fight. Placing his hands together he summoned his ultimate spell, drawing upon the power of the heavens, even as the Dragon Slayer drew breath. Black sparks spat and hissed archly around his frame, building to a deafening cacophony of screeching sound as his muscles bulged.

_ "120mm Black Lightning... _

**_"Tairyu no... _**

* * *

Cana glanced up from where she sat.

"Naruto?"

She'd withdrawn into her personal quarters, distancing herself from the party outside. It didn't feel right, celebrating the return of her friends and family when the most important part of that family was miles away and potentially in peril. She'd left Cornelia in Alzack and Bisca's care to play with Asuka; the children content to play with one another, and share stories of whose daddy was the strongest. Granted, Cana already knew, who was the strongest-not to mention the best in bed!-but she decided to let the children have their fun. Besides, her attention was focused elsewhere.

Just now...she'd felt his magical power spike. But how was that possible? He was leagues away from here, gone to confront his guild and tell them he was done with them. Finished. For a moment, she felt dread. Naruto was not the sort to take on a entire guild by himself...was he? Cana knew her husband. Just as she knew he was wont to fly into an unstoppable rage whenever she, Corneliia, or anyone dear to him for that matter was threatened, or, kami forbid, placed in danger. He was always holding himself back, always afraid of hurting others but on the off chance when a loved one was in trouble...

A small smiled danced across her lips at the thought.

"Kick their asses, honey."

* * *

_...CANNON!"_

**_...HOKO!"_**

The twin spells collided, pitting the power of the sun against heaven's black lightning. When the former powered through his spell and overwhelmed him, Orga could only balk. Lifted from his feet by the sheer size of the explosion, his back kissed the wall, window and mortar shattering alike behind him. Naruto snapped into existence above him, another roar already prepared. Orga raised his arms in a feeble block, but it was already to late. The spell was far too close to bock, let alone absorb.

**"HOKO!"**

Hellfire rained down on his head, scouring him clean. Fire and flame pushed down on his hands, slamming them to the floor. Absent of their owner. For a moment Orga could only stare at the stumps of his arms in awe and terror. There was no blood. Naruto had burned right through them, severing them neatly at the wrists. The blackened stumps twitched, as though they themselves could not believe the travesty, wrought uon them in recompense for their own temerity. Then came the pain and all thoughts of contemplation dissappeared.

**"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"**

He slumped to the floor, tucking his ruined arms into his chest. His days as a mage were over, destroyed alongside his hands.

"My...My hands!" He screamed. "What have you done!"

"You brought this upon yourself!" Naruto scowled. "The moment you thought it was alright to threaten my family_**...you brought this down on your heads!"**_

The flames dimmed somewhat, revealing his customary countenance beneath the golden hair and the all encompassing flames.

"Just stay down." He warned. "You might beable to make it to a medic if you don't strain yourself." He stepped around him, leaving him to his misery, hoping he would listen to these words of wisdom in what might be his final hours.

Orga was on his knees, his arms wrapped feebly around his midsection as his forehead rested pitifully on the ground. He couldn't believe he was going to die like this; bleeding to death in the streets of his hometown, the almighty Sun-God walking away coldly as his life slowly ebbed away from him. There was still so much he hadn't done yet. He hadn't sung the ultimate song. Hell, he was still a virgin! He had conquered so much in his time as a mage; he'd stormed the gates of Sabretooth, fought against the Twin Dragons, Sting and Rogue, and become a masterful mage in his own right. But he was still, going to die a virgin. It was a silly thought for him, to think he had any chance with the master's daughter; because she only had eyes for Naruto. She wanted him to bear her children. Not Orga. But instead of accepting her feelings like a man should, he'd gone and spurned her, spurned her love, her affections, her everything.

Somehow, that thought rankled Orga Nanagear the worst.

His head scraped the concrete floor in defiance of his defeat.

"You think you can leave?" He hissed at the blonde's back. "Just like that?"

"Orga." Naruto frowned, his hand locked around the handle to the next room. "If you stand up again, I'll have to kill you. I hope you understand that." But Orga wasn't listening. This man, this man held Minerva-chan's eye, and he spurned her. He was preferred some alchoholic hussy to perfection! And atop that, he'd dared to strike her! The woman of Orga's affections! At that, Orga saw red. Great, unholy red.

"You...You will be killed by me!"

He stood wooden, not taking enough care. Lightning gathered in the back of his mouth as he channeled the last of his magical power. Naruto staggered in surprise as the blast struck him the back, shearing through the cape he wore, through muscle and flesh and bone...only to dissapear as his aura flared once more. Naruto swung around, his bond hair lengthening, sapphire eyes snapping into violent violet. He was the Sun-God once more and Orga was faced with the full extent of his wrath.

_**"You fool!"**_

Orga wasn't listening, already gathering strength for the next blast.

Even as the last of the lightning left his lips, Naruto swopped at him. Bloodied knuckles descended once, twice, thrice, in a fit a of fierce fury driving down into the muscled man's face like powerful pistons over and over and over again. Orga soon found himself sharing a similair fate with Rufus, his body reduced to cinders beneath the wrath of the dragon-slayer's fierce blaze, his mind slipping away from him even as he watched flames roil over his body, alongside the flame sheathed hand descending toward his face for the final time. His final thought was thus:

_Minerva-chan...I'm sorrry. I'm so sorry I wasn't good enough for you. I'm so-_

Naruto's fist crashed down, ending his thoughts. They were all fools. Why did they fight him, when they knew it was hopeless. That it was pointless? He took no pleasure in ending their lives, but in the end, he could not allow himself to spare them. His rage was too great. The thought that any of them might escape and seek vengeance on him by attacking Cana and Cornelia was too much to bear. Crossing himself,for what must've felt like the upteenth time, the flaming blond stormed past the smoldering corpses and hurtled forward toward the next room.

_'Please let her be alright, please let her be alright oh kami please let her be alright..._

Momentum at his back, fear and doubt thundering like a freight train straight at him, Naruto burst through the door. It cratered before his fist, the great hinges sloughing off the oak wood in a pile of molten sludge. His gaze swept the room, searching for any sign of anyone or anything, any item that might be out of place. His attention alighted upon a small alcove toward the back of a room, the indentation carved out by years ago by master stone masons. He caught a flash of silver hair amongst the stones.

_Yukino was there._

Bound and naked, gagged, stripped of all her clothes, made to prostrate herself before the guild master's chair as though it were some sort of obscene altar. Where here guild stamp had once been there was now only a raw, ragged patch of flesh, the skin weeping blood alongside her fresh tears. She shook her head emphatically as he knelt before her, silver tresses swishing back and forth as she struggled to communicate with him, to tell him something. To warn him off the danger.

"Naruto-sama," She began the moment he removed the gag, "Look out!"

"What-

Suddenly, a cold, unsettling numbness crept across his back; creeping, crawling amidst the flames that flared throghout his body. Naruto immediately recognized the seal for what it was and grunted in surprise, eyes in a state of constant flux as the fires within him struggled against whatever it was that was trying to suppress them. The flames flared a second later his body burning impossibly bright as the magnificence of the sun god blazed around him. Unable to withstand such intense energies, to suppress the power of a Wizard Saint, the numbness receded from his body. The blades that had fallen upon him turned to slag, their holy properties to a mere mist as he shrugged them of fhis coat.

Was that it? He almost scoffed at the absurdity of it.

"Let's get you out of here, Yukino-chan." He wrapped her in his cloak, which she gratefully accepted, her cheeks burning like a blushing bride.

"Naruto-sama, I'm so sorry-

"Not another word." He shushed her. "Not until I've gotten you out of here."

He knelt once more and took Yukino into his arms, craddling her head against his chest like a newborn babe, her body, like a newlywed bride. Flames spat and hissed at the air around them, melting anything that dared stray too close to their master. She sobbed thoughtlessly as he sought the way from which they'd come. He pattered her head, gently mussing her hair. Jiemma would be dealth with later. For now, Yukino was the only thing that mattered. He just had to get her out of here before-

Naruto turned back towards the door, only to find it gone.

"Ah, fuck." he swore a half-instant before the room shimmered. "Why am I not surprised?" Revealed were a host of mages and at their head, seated in his throne, was the very bastard he'd come her to thrash. Jiemma, the master of Sabretooth. Rising from his seat, removing his arms from their sleeves.

"So you've come at last, traitor." he spoke grimly. "You've murdered my mages, ruined my building, and now, you've interrupted the excommunication of a traitor to the have you to say for yourself?"

Naruto couldn't quite contain his outrage at that.

"You wanna know what I have to say for myself?"

Jiemma nodded harshly.

Naruto held up two fingers.

"FUCK. YOU." He turned his attention to the gaggle of mages surrounding them. "Fuck all of you! I wish I'd joined Fairy Tail years ago, but nooo, I thought I could tolerate you asshats! I thought I could change the guild from within! The guild that I helped form! But now I see that's not going to happen." He cut his gaze toward Jiemma. "Not so long as you hold that seat, old man."

"So you've come to kill me then."

"Says the man who tried to kill me!"

"You were warned." The old man scoffed. "Countless times. I cannot allow Fairy Tail to coexist with us. We must be superior! To make the-

Naruto interrupted him with a sharp whistle.

"Oi! Tsunade!" he hollered.

"Here, Naruto!"

_"Catch!"_

Yukino squeaked in surprise as Naruto tossed her upward, her eyes flying wide open as she hung there, suspended in midair by some unseen spell. Second later she caught sight of the exceed; seconds later the window burst and there was only empty air. She flailed in surprise for a moment, her arms and legs seeking purchase where there was none to be found. The only thing preventing her collapse was the small cat clutching at her back; the only thing keeping them aloft, her wings.

"Naruto-sama!" Yukino cried out. "Wait! Come back! What are you doing?!"

"Get her out of here, Tsunade!" The blond bellowed up at his cat. "You know where to take her!"

"Naruto-sama!"

Naruto steeled his heart and hollered:

"Tsunade! GO!"

The exceed did not hesitate. Even as Yukino wept, she soared into the opening the mage had made for them. Within a heartbeat her wings carried them beyond the range of the sorceror's spells. Leaving them to focus their full wrath upon the lone traitor standing within their guild. Countless eyes blazed upon him, power hungry mages, each hungering for the same thing; the opportunity to take downt he Sun-God and claime his title for themselves. Naruto, for the most part, ignored them. His attention was elsewhere.

Naruto watched Yukino's escape with a grin. At last, satisfied that his apprentice was indeed safe, he returned himself to the task at hand.

"Great," He smirked. "Now that they're gone, I really have no need to hold back any longer...

"So you _were_ holding back?" Jiemma accused. "I knew something was wrong when you had such trouble against Sting and Rogue."

"That's because I didn't want to kill them." Naruto hissed. "But you...you, I'm going to kill. _Slowly."_

"Try it if you dare!"

"Oooh,_** I dare!"**_

Naruto grunted, the brilliance of the sun flaring about his body once more. Burgeoning his battered frame. Golden hair streamed behind him, his eyes flashing an eerie jade-violet as the transformation exacted its toll and tore into his the depths of his soul. He growled, teeth gnashed together, chipping a moral as his body screamed out in protest. _Just a little longer_, he soothed his screaming muscles. He spat out the piece of tooth and stepped forward, setting fire to the carpet with his very prescence. He felt, rather than saw the flames, saw them trickle along the walls, stretching their steaming tendrils toward the ceiling.

"Now," He hissed, eyes flying wide open, great fat sparks snarling around his frame. "Get your ass down here!"

Faced with the wrath of fire itself, the mages fled, realizing the impossibility of the task set before them. Those who stayed suffered the wrath of the sun itself. If Jiemma cared for the destruction of his guild or the loss of his mages, he did precious little to show it.

"It's over, Jiemma." Naruto growled. "Our quarrel ends here."

"I am dissapointed in you, my old friend."

Naruto couldn't help but rise to the jab.

"Dissapointed?"

"I had expected you to succeed me." Jiemma continued, his expression grim. "To marry my daughter and usher in a new era of greatness for Sabretooth." Here his fist clenched with fury. "You ungrateful little shit. Here I offered you my kin, my own willing daughter, and you spat in my face. You'd rather drive your seed into that ungrateful whore than know a woman of true greatness!"

Naruto twitched.

"And how would you know true greatness?"

Jiemma's silence spoke volumes.

"You sick fuck!" Naruto exclaimed aghast, shuddering all over. "Y-You slept with your own daughter?!"

"The guild must be preserved!"

"I'm going to kick your ass!"

"As I said, you're welcome to try! You won't be able to singe so much as a hair on my-

He never saw the blond move.

_-chest?"_

One moment Naruto stood across from him. The next, violent violet-green orbs swelled before his vision, alongisde the dragonslayer's clenched fist.

"This is for Yukino!" He roared, driving his clenched knuckles deep into the madman's stomach. "This is for Rogue!" A devastating knee to the groin seconded his outraged cry. "Cornelia!" An upturned elbow thrust came crashing across the master's chin." Kushina!" Stars-whole planets!-exploded before Jiemma's eyes as the the unyielding plate metal of the blonde's forehead protector greeted his skull. Battered, bruised and reeling like a drunkard, he could only sway haphazardly on his feet as the dragon slayer drew his arm back for one last attack. "And this...THIS IS FOR CANA! For the seven years of hell that you forced the two of us to endure you son of a bitch!"

Seizing the master by the cloth of his robe, Naruto flung him toward the ceiling.

"_Metsu Ryū Ōgi!"_ Naruto announced, violet eyes blazing violently, aura flaring fiercely. _"Gōryūka no Gekitetsu!"_

With that single punch, shaped in the form of screaming dragon, the guild known as Sabretooth exploded. The upper half of the building simply _ceased to be_ vanishing in the ensuing explosion as the Sun-God's greatest technique struck the Master of Sabretooth full-on, shearing through clothes and flesh alike. When the smoke cleared, only one was left standing. Master Jiemma clutched at the ruined remnants of his right arm the liimb horribly mangled just below the elbow. Severa burns lined the length of his face and chest, having seared through his beard and robe. His eyes burned heatedly upon the Wizard Saint.

"Impudent...brat." He hissed. "You...cannot...you cannot defeat me! You cannot have Sabretooth! I will not allow it!

Naruto scoffed.

"Well well, what do we have here?" He cackled. "I do belive you said I couldn't singe so much as a single hair on your chest? I certainly did more than that!"He cast a scornful glance for the ruined remains of Sabretooth and its buildingl sunlight pouring in through the open ceiling, dust trickling in from cracks in the masony, the floor ruined and shattered and alighting upon the bulwarks of the once impenetrable fortress. "Hmm...I think the new look suits me, wouldn't you agree?" Naruto's grin grew. "A dragon needs no roof over his head. He needs only the sky. Quite fitting for the soon-to-be master, hmm?"

Jiemma spat a bloody gob onto the floor.

"You...You will never have this guild!" Seething and spitting, he pointing a trembling finger toward Naruto, imperiously. "I would sooner die by my own hand before I give it to a sympathetic fool like you!"

"Is that your final answer?" Naruto breathed deep of the sunlight, replenishing his strength. "The magic council will be here any moment now. Once I defeat you, I'll tell them the truth about what's transpired here. And from there...well, its either the grave or the gallows for someone like you."

"I am not defeated yet, brat!"

The dragon slayer inclined his head.

"You _are _a tough one, jiji." He grinned. "That should've killed you." His shoulders slumped, the effects of his transformation slipping away from him like smoke. "Thankfully I still have one more trick up my sleeve. Now, I longer need this form, so if you'll excuse me, I'd like to wrap things up with this last attack." He clenched the wrist of his right arm, muscles bulging at the sudden effort. "Watch closely now! You'll only get to see this once!"

"What?!"

"It's over!" Naruto cocked his fist backward, ready to deliver the final blow."Eat this! My _ultimate_ technique!" There were no flames to be found in his fist anymore. No grand explosion of light and shadow as the muscle of his right arm contracted, building up a titanic amount of power. What manner of sorcerory was this? A simple punch? Jiemma raised his arm, nonplussed. Surely he would be able to stop stuch a strike. Surely, he did not mean to defeat him with such a simple blow?! Naruto erupted forward, arm cocked knuckles clenched, a wide, triumphant grin tugging at his every feature.

"My Wife is NUMBER ONE! PUNCH!"

As if such a punch could harm him! He would block it, of course, and then he would break this boy, break his family break everything he held dear. He would make him suffer in recompense for this temerity, for this out of hand defiance. He would suffer and bawl and beg and wish for death and he would not be granted it until Jiemma saw fit. Oh yes, he would block this punch and then-

He did not block it. Could not, as it powered through his guard and collided with his chin. It felt as though two individuals had struck him as one, as though another were there, her fist striking him, alongside that of the mighty Sun-God. What sorcery was this? Was he seeing things? How could such a thing be. How could. could...could...they have such...such...

_Such...Power!_

Event as the great master Jiemma reeled from the naming of the attack, so too could not hope to stand before the awesomness of the punch. His jaw shattered, bones splintering beneath the sheer awesomeness of the unstoppable strike. He struggled to cling to concsciousness, to his power, but to no avail. Naruto struck him again, and the last tenuous thread to his power and his guild, finally snapped. His broken body slumped down to the broken floor, and the last sight he saw was that of the Sun-God basking in the sun. Turning, as the clatter of footsteps reached his ears. As Lahar, and a platoon of rune knights finally arrived on the scene. Words and pleasantries were exchanged, prompted by a series of hands being laid upon his body. Jiemma's body. He felt himself dragged away, away from his guild, from all he'd strove for. He saw his daughter, through eyes swollen shut and suddenly, standing by Naruto's side, and he understood why she had not come to his defence during the battle. He'd been betrayed. Betrayed, beaten, broken in every possible way, and still his only thought was thus:

_Such...Power..._

**A/N: MY WIFE IS NUMBER ONE PUNCH! Only Naruto would describe that as an ultimate attack. And, there we go. Naruto. Does. Not. Take kindly to those who threaten his loved ones. Hence the painful and excruciating death or Orga and Rufus. Never really liked those blokes, I did. And as you can see, Yukino is like a little sister to him, despite what feelings she might hold. TSUNADE IS NARUTO'S CAT! Bet you didn't see that coming now, did you? Will Naruto elect to rule over what's left of Sabretooth or will he join Fairy Tail? And what the bloody hell is Minerva up to? Anywho, I'm off to work and worked extremely hard on this chapter in the hopes to please all of you and I look forward to your reviews, so...**

**...REVIEW AND ENJOY THE OMAKE WOULD YOU KINDLY?**

_(Omake)_

_"Is it sooo wrong to teach my baby to hit boys?" Naruto asked Alzack as they shared a drink at the bar. "I mean you understand where I am coming from right?"_

_Alzack nodded._

_"Our daughters are gonna be quite the lookers when they're older." He sipped at his mug. "Just like their mothers."_

_"Here here!" Naruto laughed, clinking his glass against that of his fellow mage's. "And here's to never letting them date anyone!"_

_"Amen!"_

_As both men drank to this, Cana and Bisuka sweatdropped at their husbands behavior._

_"Men..._

**We'll see what Naruto's fate is next chapter! Alongside a very touching family reunion as the guild finally absorbs what our favorite Wizard Saint just did. Decimated an entire guild. By himself. I sincerely look forward to your reviews, dear readers!**

**R&R! =D **


	5. You Belong to Me

**A/N: Well now, I'm glad to see that the last chapter satisfied! It's been about three months since my last update and I apologize for the wait. As said ,I wanted to let the manga get a decent start on my before continuing, and now that it has, I'm free-finally!-to continue this story! Work has been pressing down on me as of late, leaving me with less time to write than I'd like. If I had it my way, most of my stories would be updated by now. Sadly it doesn't work that way, so I'll be doing my best to update as often-and as quickly as I can. After much adue and even more thought, I've finally decided Naruto's what Naruto's fate will be. Imprisonment or Freedom? Fairy Tail or Sabretooth? What will happen? Which side will he choose? **

**I don't want to reveal anything here in the author's note...you'll just have to read the chapter to find out! So now...**

**...onto the next chapter of Tipsy!**

_"You're home..._

_~Cana Alberona, Fourth Master of Fairy Tail._

**You Belong to Me**

Naruto stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. Bored.

He was _soooo_ sucking bored!

Nearly a week had passed since the near-destruction of the Sabretooth Guild. Only a wee, and he'd been sitting here in the interrogation room for what felt like an eternity. This dull, drab white room, padded at the wall and hardened at the floor, supposedly created just to nullify his own magical powers. Any restraints they attempted to provide melted into slag before they could clamp them on him. And so he'd sat here, drumming his fingers against the table, wonderin what was happening in the outside world

They'd said precious little to him thus; they hadn't even bothered to take his statement before throwig him in here. And so he'd sat, twidling his thumbs, his senses sproud out to detect the happening beyond the room. He was the only "guest" in this underground chamber. There were no soul to hear his words, nor his exasperation. Solitary confinement. Were they trying to intimidate him? If so their plans were doomed to failure. The only thing_-the only woman!-_that truly intimidated him was his wife and her wicked wrath and both were fare and away from here.

But he was not entirely cut off from the outside world as they thought. He was a Wizard Saint for a reason, after all. As he slept he dreamnt and as he dreamnt, he found himself far removed from the dreadful dreary world with its iron bars and shackles upon reality. As he slept, he dreamnt, and as he dreamnt, he reached out to his wife, mile away in Magnolia Town. He touched her mind in slumber, communing to her everything that had happened over the last seven days, and his own, unfortunate...confinement.

And that wasn't all.

He felt Cana resist at first, felt her surprise_-her anger-_as she realized he was imprisoned.

So when the door finally flung itself open, jarring him from his sleep, the Sun God was in less than an amicable mood.

"I was having...the...best...dream...of my fucking life." Naruto growled. He took a deep breath to compose himself and folded his hands together upon the table. "So, what can I do for you, Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit?" Standing before him was a man he'd seen many times in the last seven years, Lahar, leader of the rune knights. The two kne one another well, and under more pleasant circumstances, he would've been happy to see the dark-haired mage. Alas, Naruto wasn't feeling particularly pleasant at the moment.

"Hello," Lahar offered a wan smile. "Naruto."

_"S'uuup."_

If Naruto wanted to, he could've been quite amiable with this man. But he didn't want to amiable. He wanted to get the _hell_ out of this room. He wanted to be free of whatever schemes Minerva had planned. He wanted to get back to his family, hold his wife and child in his arms and take the former over and over and _over_ again until they were both sated. He was in no mood to sit here and listen to some council flunkey flaunt what he _thought_ he knew of him, of the Sun-God!

"You've been quite busy over the last seven years." The leader of the rune knights began, pulling up a chair as he laid a thick manilla folder down upon the table. Naruto didn't even bother to inquire. He knew whose file that was and he wasn't about to take the bait like some stupid fish. It was his file. A lifelong list of his accomplishments, from his very first job to the chaos he'd wrought last week. Heh. He was pleased to see that the folder was a great deal thicker than he last remembered.

"I've heard quite a lot about you as of late." With some effort, the dark-haired captain unfurled the folder; the table quivered from the effort. "More than I would've liked."

"Oh, really?"

Lahar inclined his head in a short nod and immediately launched into a list of his more...sordid accomplishments.

"Consorting with the Master of Fairy Tail. Conspiring to take down Sabretooth from within-

**_"Oh you dirty bitch, work the shaft."_**

"Excuse you...?"

"Sorry." The dragons slayer apologized, although he really didn't feel sorry at all. "I like to dirty talk when someone doesn't have _the balls to tell me himself."_

"Perhaps I should just skip to my point." Lahar sighed. He pressed a gloved hand against the folder for emphasis. "Uzumaki Naruto, I'll be frank. You've thrown a hot potato, into the Council's lap. Guran Doma wants to have you executed on behalf of the council for inciting such chaos-

"And on behalf of _me_ he can shut the fuck up." Naruto growled back.

"I'm _trying_ to have a serious conversation with you here." The man frowned.

"Oh." Naruto snickered, exposing fangs in a glistening grin so sinister that it actually left the man quivering. "So am I. And I'm failing. And I'm sorry for that. It's just that I'm so agitated." The words darkened alongside his visage as he leaned forward, blue eyes blazing like azure flames." Because this dumb little shit strolled into my room, woke me up from the _best fucking dream ever_ and is trying to impress reason upon me, like I'm his alchoholic father." Before Lahar could open his mouth to protest, Naruto had placed two fingers to the man's forehead, eyes blazing red. "Be a sport and let daddy get another beer, would you?"

The dark-haired mage could only frown as his surroundings burst into white.

"What're you-

Lahar blinked as he found himself standing outside the cell block. One moment he'd been sitting across from one of the most powerful mages to ever exist; the next, he was right back where he started. His folder gone, alongside the keys. The keys! He scrambled back to Sun-God's cell silently cursing himself for his ineptitude. Foolish! He'd thought the room had dappened the man's magic to the point of nonexistence, leaving him soft and weak; powerless within the confines of those four walls. He'd been wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong. He'd probably already escaped by now!

He reached the door and flung it open, gasping for breath.

Naruto grinned back at him, a mug of rum clutched tightly in one hand, keys in the other. The dragon slayer raised his glass in greeting and took a hearty drink. An errant thought sent the keys flying through the air at Lahar; the man grabbed at them with fumbling fingers. Incredulous, he demanded an explanation from the grinning wizard saint.

"How did you-

"That would be telling." Naruto smiled. "Did you really think I'd shown the council all of my abilities? Those prejudistic bastards, who eliminiate anyone for stepping even an inch out of line?" He scoffed, cuting Lahar off once again. "No, I was never trapped here. I could've left any time I pleased. I only stayed to hear what charges you had to level against me. And apparently, they're bullshit."

"I-

"I'm not some pet mage for the council to toy with," the blond admonished further as he circled the table, indicating the padded walls surrounding them. "See this?" He snapped his fingers and was gone, reappearing a handsbreath behind Lahar."I can go wherever I want, do whatever I want, whenever the hell I want and there's not a damned thing you can do about it." He drained his glass in a single gulp and slammed it down upon the table, sending the folder jumping into the air. "The council would be wise to remember that.

"Now, lets make three things clear. One. I'm not apologizing. Two. I was in the right. Three," and here he stood eyes ablaze, "if those bastards on the council try to use my wife as leverage against me...well, it won't be pretty." He made no mention of his daughter. Best for Guran Doma not to know his weakness.

"I'm not apologizing." He clarified further, flinging himself back into the chair. "Read me my rights so I can get the hell out of here."

Lahar sighed. A slow, wry smile stole its way over his face.

"Having a family really has changed you, hasn't it, Naruto-san?"

The blond snorted.

"Not for the better, obviously. Quite frankly, I think its made me a bit of an asshole."

"And you weren't one to begin with?"

"I object to such a statement!" Naruto groused as Lahar reclaimed the seat opposite him.

"You seemed to have planned for such an event," The leader of the rune knights slowly shuffled the papers on his desk, oblivious to the blonde's consternation. "We found a recording lacrima on your person. It supports you story. You _were_ attacked first. However," and here his face did darken, "It fails to explain your use of lethal force."

"I didn't have much choice." The Sun-God shrugged, regarding his old friend blackly once again. "Orga and Rufus were trying to kill me at the time. If I held back there was a very good chance I wouldn't be sitting here right now." He straightened in the chair, unable to suppress the slightest shiver. "I wasn't about to let Jiemma rape Yukino, either." It wasn't as if he loved her...alright. he did but not like that! She was like a little sister to him! A cute little sister. He'd sooner tear off his right arm than see her come to harm. Honestly, she was probably one of the reasons he'd stayed in the first place. If not for her and Rogue, he'd probably have left the guild a long time ago.

"Yes, about that," Lahar continued, "You'll be pleased to know she's safe and sound."

Naruto sighed.

"In custody?"

_"With your wife."_

The blonde's frown did more than turn upside down; it was positively beatific.

"You cheeky dickwaffle."

"Lady Minerva has also vouched for you." Lahar continued, the slighest of smiles pulling at his mouth. "I don't know what you did to enamor her so, but she posted your bail some hours ago. _One million jewel._ Quite the amount, wouldn't you agree?" Naruto groaned, prompting a confused frown from his friend. Damnit! He'd forgotten all about Minerva! She wasn't going to leave him alone_-certainly not now-_not after he'd made his final decision. His time in solitary had given him just that; time to think. Sabretooth was his guild. He'd help found it. It was like a child to him. His child. A indignant, disobedient child he thought he could goad into behaving so long as he was nearby. He'd been wrong. The guild had given him nothing but misery over the last seven years, and it had nearly scarred Yukino for life. There could be no righting the wrongs that had corrupted this child of his. It was no longer his guild. He knew now where he belonged. Fairy Tail

There was just one snag.

_Minerva._

He'd hoped _-prayed-_ she would be content with taking her father's place as Master and ruling over Sabretooth, assuming it wasn't disbaded. Apparently not. If she was willing to post the amount Lahar had mentioned_-a small fortune!-_just to secure his release, then she doubtlessly had plans for him. Plans he wanted no part of!

"Is something wrong?" Lahar asked.

Sun-God shook his head.

"No...its nothing..." a thought occurred to him. "That reminds me for whatever reason...Sabretooth hasn't been disbanded?"

Lahar shook its head.

"No."

_"Why the hell not?"_

"You've placed Jiemma in critical condition, but he'll likely spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes. Most of the guild members responsible for attacking you were also apprehended." He tapped at the folder, in a errant thought, his eyes distant and cold, fraught with concern. "I won't lie to you, Naurto-san. It will be a significantly smaller Sabretooth, that takes place in the games this year. You murdered two of their best mages and those that remain are doubtless to seek vengeance." His voice turned to flint as he spoke. "Should they attempt something like this again we of the Magic Council will-

"No, don't bother."

"Ha?"

Naruto was staring down at the table, his hands clutched hard into its surface; white-knuckled against the wood. Flames roared high in his eyes.

"If they try something like this again, you won't have to worry." his words were soft, deadly so.

Lahar blinked.

"I'm afraid I don't understand-

"Because if they're foolish enough to come after me a second time, I'll wipe them out." The Sun God promised; voice black as the darkest night. "There won't be anything left to arrest but ashes."

"Y-You can't be serious." Lahar sputtered out. "If you did such a thing the council would do more than just strip you of your title! The full wrath of Etherion would come down on you-

Then he saw the look in the blonde's eyes. Felt the cracks, spreading across the table. Sensed the killer intent stemming from the man's every pore. He was serious, Lahar realized. If Sabretooth ever threatened Naruto or his family again, the dragon slayer would exterminate the lot of them without hesitation. Heaven help whomever threatened them; because nothing short of a blast from The Etherion would stop this man from taking his vengeance. Perhaps not even that. Lahar shuddered at the thought of the weapon being fired again.

"You're truly serious about this, aren't you?"

Naruto's gaze spoke volumes. It was his title that had saved him this time; next time, kami forbid, there would be no certanties.

"So I'm free to go?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Lahar rose from his chair and turned to unlock the door. "One more thing."

"Hmm?"

"Your wife is waiting for you."

Naruto froze, rooted in place by the man's words. He turned, slowly, presenting his old acquaintance with a slow smile, spread across his face. In that moment, Lahar could see just how much Naruto truly loved his wife more than anything in the world It was there in his eyes, in his smile, in the way he held himself. If it was for her he'd walk straight through hell with that very same smile. He'd burn for her, just as he was burning with love and aroud even ow

"You mean she's _here?"_

* * *

Cana's head snapped up as the sound of crisp footfalls reached her ears. She'd arrived hours ago via airship, thanks in part to Blue Pegasus. Ichiya owed her a favor, one she'd been swift to call on upon finally learning the location of her husband. She was tired of secrecy. Tired of waiting. Seven years of happiness and sorrow, of hiding in the dark, of letting her little girl grow up without a father. Seven years of pain, a pain so terrible she thought she die, finally ended, here today.

The moment Naruto contacted her, conveyed to her his location, she'd been up and out the door, leaving Cornelia in the care of Bisca and Alzack. Like hell she'd trust Gray with her kid! Now she stood in the halls of the capital, awaiting her husband's return. The guards had refused her passage any further than the lobby, and so here she was, waiting, ears straining for the slightest sound of steps. When she heard them she knew. She simply knew. She felt his shock from across the room, radiating outward in waves.

Lahar bit back a smile as he bid the guards let the Wizard Saint pass and he himself moved out of the man's way. And just in time too; because the card-user launched herself at the blond faster than any magical bullet could ever hope to, her arms wrapping around his neck in a loving hug. _Ah, love. _Naruto stiffened only for an instant, surprise scrawing across his every feature, then he grabbed her up in his arms and whirled her around_, _saying her name over and over as if he wanted to hear it forever.

"Cana...

A moment.

The run of a sandglass.

A sliver of time. How long? Cana Alberona could not have said. But when she emerged from that coccoon of safety where nothing mattered but that she was safe and loved within the circle of arms, the guards were still gawping at the two of them, at this scene, straight out of a fairy tale. The irony was not lost on her. She blinked as he reached down to touch her face, his fingers cradling her cheek gently, fearfully, almost as if he had to be certain of it; terrified she would vanish into a dream. Then he rushed forward, snatching her up in his arms, kissing Cana Alberona with an urgency that almost overwhelmed her.

Cana felt the tears before she realize she was crying. Tears of joy. Of relief.

He was burning hot, even in the warm afternoon, and when their lips parted, he halted once more, holding her fearfully, as if they stood on a precipiece. Cana reached up and gently touched his cheek as he had, and was surprised to feel tears there. She smiled, not all harsh and edges as before, but softer, teasing. And then Naruto leaned in and kissed Cana again, slower this time. He dared to move his lips over hers, to feel her shudder against him, to taste her tongue over his.

His lips were soft, warm, and oh so inviting. She crumpled into him, the anger leaching from her features, leaving her filled with such warmth she felt as if she were aflame. But not for very long. For as she tasted his lips, she remembered everything. Those long, listless nights as she lie awake in bed, her heart beating against her breast in silent anticipation for his arrival. Scarce had been the time that he came to her side during those days, but the nights...ah, but the nights were...fan-fucking-tastic. The thought struck Cana like a thunderbold; she wouldn't have to wait anymore. Now she could have him whenever she wanted, whenever she wanted. It was like opening a floodgate.

_Oh kami...kami..._

Cana shivered, a silent thrill coursing through her blood, her body, and warming her hips. She didn't care that they had an audience. Didn't give a damn. She wanted to drag him to the first bed she found and fuck him senseless. Only his hands upon her hips restrained her; preventing her from stripping his armour and clothes away; denying her fingertips the sensation of his skin beneath her hands.

"Home." She gasped out between kisses, "Now."

Naruto grinned into her feverish kisses, his right hand departing from her hip to press against his forehead. His left wrapped around her waist, crushing her against him and his length. Cana went weak in the knees. A moue of delight and pleasure fled her lips, and were it not for his arm, she was certain she'd have collapsed. And then they were gone, departed from Crocus. She felt the wind, rush through her hair, and then Naruto was pushing her, shoving her down and she felt the familiar comfort of her_-their!-_matress beneath her back. They were home. Once more Cana was infinitely grateful Bisca was babysitting Cornelia; because she could restrain herself no longer. couldn't hold these

"Mine." Cana couldn't help it; she hissed out the word between breaths, fingers scrabling to remove his armour, fisting in his hair. "You're mine."

"Yours." Naruto whispered into her ear. He'd check on Yukino later. For now, there was only her. Only Cana. "Always yours"

_...always."_

**A/N: NarutoxCana! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! The decision has been made! Naruto goes to Fairy Tail! Minerva isn't going to take this lying down, however. Sabretooth, though weakened, is far from down and out. There's trouble brewing on the horizon. A storm is coming, and the Grand Magic Games are only a small part of the chaos that is to come. Someone's going to get what's coming to them, though I won't say who it is. Stay tuned! Lemons and hilarity abound next chapter. And if anyone caught the TFS references in this chapter...good for you!**

**Alas, I must leave for work once again-thank God its friday- and I look forward to your reviews with bated breath upon my return! ****So, I shall leave you with the immortal words of Alucard...**

**...BITCH I EAT PEOPLE!**

**Nz: Alucard!**

**A: Oh, fiiiiiiiiine...**

**...REVIEW, WOULD YOU KINDLY? UNLESS YOU'D LIKE A HUG?**

**R&R! =D**


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